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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (7255)	11/23/2000 11:10:18 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

Bush Sues Over Military Ballots Wednesday, November 22, 2000 By Sharon Kehnemui WASHINGTON — Governor George W. Bush's campaign filed suit in Florida state court Wednesday in order to reinstate overseas military ballots that 13 counties had tossed out of the count because the ballots had been not properly postmarked. The Bush camp is asking that a declaration be made by the court that overseas absentee ballots from the military be counted even if they bear an unreadable, smudged, or late U.S. postmark, or if they lack a written date. Florida law required that the overseas ballots bear a postmark, but often military outposts send their mail to U.S. bases without any such markings. Florida Attorney General — and Gore state campaign chairman — Bob Butterworth wrote an opinion Monday to the counties that military ballots should be included if they are signed with a date but bear no postmark. County boards rejected the opinion. In its filing, Bush attorneys also asked that overseas ballots be counted, regardless of whether the voter requested a state absentee ballot, or whether there are minor differences in the signature on the request for the absentee ballot and the ballot itself. Bush attorneys are also seeking a Writ of Mandamus from the court to force the canvassing boards to consider overseas ballots, and to send the results of the new ballot count to the secretary of state for certification. They want the courts to require the boards to implement security for all the ballots and envelopes. Leon County Circuit Court Judge L. Ralph Smith received the request. Of the 3,733 overseas votes sent to Florida, only 2,206 were included in the count. Bush was favored in the count over Gore 1380-750. 1,527 ballots were rejected by local elections officials because they were not postmarked by election day, Nov. 7, as specified by Florida law. The majority of those 1,527 votes allegedly came from military personnel abroad, which set off a frenzy fueled by the Bush campaign that the Gore campaign was trying to disenfranchise the very people who spend their lives defending America's democracy, including the right to vote. The Gore camp vehemently rejected those assertions. Bush told reporters Wednesday that if Gore wants to discuss areas of agreement with Bush, as he repeated Tuesday night after the Florida Supreme Court ruled to allow hand recounts, they may have "common ground." "He should join me in calling upon all appropriate authorities in Florida to make sure that overseas military ballots that were signed and received on time count in this election. Our men and women in uniform overseas should not lose their right to vote. I hope the vice president will personally support me in this call," Bush said. Gore campaign manager William Daley said Wednesday that he is on the side of counting all "legally cast" military ballots. "All of us agree that those legally cast ballots, whether they're military ballots or civilian ballots, should be counted. There's no question about that," Daley said. "And if that's what he's implying, that's what we agree with. Absolutely." Daley said he hoped that the governor wasn't implying that illegal ballots should be counted too. foxnews.com