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Politics : Electoral College 2000 - Ahead of the Curve -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (3994)	11/30/2000 7:27:33 AM
From: Vendit™	Respond to of 6710

Legislature Gears Up To Intervene in Race TALLAHASSEE, Nov. 29 –– The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature appeared today on the verge of convening a special session to intervene in the disputed presidential election, and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said he would sign a bill naming the state's 25 electors "if it was the appropriate thing to do." Republican lawmakers who had previously been reluctant to take the politically explosive step of choosing the electors have reached a consensus that they are duty-bound to act, they said. The development came despite testimony today from experts brought in by Democrats that such an action would be unconstitutional. A third expert, asked by Republicans to appear before the hastily assembled "Select Joint Committee on the Manner of the Appointment of Presidential Electors," also sounded a note of caution. The committee is expected to issue its recommendations on Thursday, and the special legislative session could be convened as early as next Tuesday. Democrats vowed to challenge in court any intervention by the Legislature, potentially adding another lawsuit to the bitter legal wrangling in the disputed presidential race between Vice President Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Draft language for a bill or a resolution has already been circulated. A ranking Republican lawmaker familiar with the preparations said that the current plan is to announce on Friday that a special session would be convened next Tuesday. The lawmaker also said that Jeb Bush has been involved in the planning, although he had publicly distanced himself from it until his statement today. "Everyone is aware of what he wants, but it has to appear that he's hands-off," the lawmaker said. "He has to be sure that it doesn't backfire on him." On Tuesday, the Florida governor had refused to say whether he would sign a bill naming the electors. Today, he said he would sign it if he believes it is appropriate. His spokeswoman, Elizabeth Hirst, said today that the governor would review such a bill if the Legislature passed it, although "that doesn't mean he's definitely going to sign it." State GOP Chairman Al Cardenas signaled the party's hope that any political fallout would be offset by public impatience with the ongoing dispute. "The polls seem to favor George Bush's position by [increasing] daily margins," he said. "By the time the Legislature has to act, presumably that will be exponentially greater." Gore's campaign chartered a plane to bring in dozens of voters from South Florida to testify at the hearing, hoping to put political pressure on state lawmakers and lay the groundwork for a claim that the GOP-dominated Legislature is acting only to provide insurance for the Republican presidential nominee. Gore is contesting George Bush's 537-vote Florida victory in state courts. The U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures the power to choose the manner by which the states' presidential electors are appointed. A federal law allows each legislature to choose the method of appointing the electors if the state "has failed to make a choice on the day provided by law." Another federal law requires that in the case of states such as Florida that provide for election contests, Congress must accept the slate of electors of the winner of those contests if "such determination shall have been made at least six days before the time fixed for the meeting of electors." The law is silent on what Congress should do if there is no determination by Dec. 12, six days before the Dec. 18 meeting of the electoral college, which formally selects the president. Whether the Legislature has the power to act will depend on a legal interpretation of the federal laws. Democrats argue that the time for legislative intervention has passed: On Sunday, the state certified its election results, and Jeb Bush sent those results to Washington. "Florida has already made the legally relevant choice," said Bruce Ackerman, a Yale University law professor and author of several books on constitutional law. "If the Florida Legislature proceeds to intervene at this late stage, it will be setting a precedent for future state legislatures to intervene in every close election." Republicans in the Florida Legislature are arguing that Congress might not accept the Bush slate as long as the election controversy continues. The argument was reiterated again today, even as Bush's lawyers were across the street in court arguing against Gore's motions to speed up the contest proceedings. washingtonpost.com