Gore Pleads Recount Case
In Latest High-Court Drama
Thursday, December 7, 2000
Al Gore and George W. Bush hauled their presidential slugfest back to the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday, asking the justices to answer the question that has paralyzed them and the nation for weeks: Is the race over or should votes be counted again?
Beth Keiser/AP
Thursday: Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles T. Wells, left, questions attorneys concerning the recount case in Tallahassee. At right is Justice Major B. Harding.
In an hourlong hearing, the justices fired dozens of questions at the candidates' attorneys, forcing them to justify why the case deserved to be heard and whether Circuit Court Judge N. Sanders Sauls erred when he refused to reverse Bush's certified win and order another recount.
To read a transcript of the arguments, click here.
Gore's chief attorney, David Boies, told Chief Justice Charles T. Wells that the nearly 14,000 disputed ballots in two counties "can be counted in the time available" before the Tuesday deadline for choosing presidential electors.
Bush's lead advocate, Barry Richard, countered that the case was now "nothing more than a garden variety appeal" from a lower court and that the Democrats simply "have not met their burden of proof."
The same seven justices, each appointed by Democratic governors, were the ones who first extended the dispute, when they ruled on Nov. 21 that Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward counties could conduct recounts and amend their results by Nov. 26. Broward finished the task, Miami-Dade abandoned it and Palm Beach fell short, inspecting its last ballot hours after the deadline to finish the count had passed.
The difference, Gore's supporters say, could be hundreds of disqualified votes or enough to upset the 537-vote victory Bush claimed after the certification.
Beth Keiser/AP
Thursday: Gore attorney David Boies presents oral arguments before the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee.
Since then, the dispute has snaked its way through several courts. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to enter the fray, but set aside the Florida Supreme Court decision and told the judges to reconsider their decision. A federal appellate court in Atlanta on Wednesday turned down emergency requests by Bush and Republican voters to block any recounts. The GOP-controlled Florida legislature will convene Friday to consider choosing a slate of electors for Bush if the legal battles don't end by Tuesday.
And two state judges in Tallahassee were presiding over trials in which Democrats allege Republicans gave Bush an unfair edge by improperly tampering with absentee ballot applications. Both of those cases could conclude as early as Thursday, but lawyers have predicted any rulings would be appealed.
Those appeals might be moot if the Florida Supreme Court rules quickly on the issues before it. The justices gave no signs of when a decision might come, and lawyers for both sides wouldn't rule out yet another appeal, ostensibly back to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Court Senses an End to Legal Wrangling
The justices' questions suggested the court recognized the lingering dispute was nearing an end. They repeatedly asked Boies how he could ask for a manual recount in just three counties when as many as 17 counties used the same punch-card machines he claimed had failed to properly record the votes.
"If merely having a manual recount in some areas and not others would make this election defective, then this election would already be defective, because there were manual recounts in a number of counties that were included in the certified results of the secretary of state," Boies told Justice Major B. Harding.
Beth Keiser/AP
Thursday: Bush attorney Barry Richard, left, gestures while talking with Gore campaign attorney Dexter Douglass before the Florida Supreme Court session in Tallahassee.
Later, Wells asked Boies how the court could possibly find a remedy before Dec. 12, the state's deadline for choosing presidential electors. Wells referred specifically to Miami-Dade County, the state's largest, noting "the only manual recount that can be done under the statute would be to recount all the ballots."
Boies argued that simply counting about 9,000 disputed ballots in Miami-Dade would be sufficient.
"But that would definitely be a change in the law," Wells replied, "because the statute says they can only — if they decide to have a manual recount — manually recount all the ballots."
Justices: Can We See the Chad?
He and his fellow jurists then challenged Boies' Republican counterpart, Richard, to explain why the court should not even look at the disputed ballots that Boies contends were the key pieces of evidence ignored by Sauls.
Justice Barbara J. Pariente asked, "Is that your position, that this election contest statute does not vest within the judiciary the authority to review votes that were possibly cast but never counted?"
Richard paused.
"Well, no. 1, it is not the role of the judiciary to do so when a canvassing board has already done so and has made a reasonable decision," he said, "and that happened in Palm Beach County."
But Pariente did not let up.
"Are you really saying that the 9,000 votes in Dade County, which are the exact same [type of] votes that were looked at in Palm Beach County and Broward County should not be looked at in a contest action?" she asked.
Dave Martin/AP
Thursday: Attorneys and spectators wait in line to enter the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee.
Richard said the court has no basis to review the county's decision to halt its recount, in part because the Democrats failed to show any evidence of wrongdoing or abuse by elections officials.
"They have not met their burden of proof, and the reason is the only thing they did was put two witnesses on the stand to say they were speculating that Votomatic [punchcard] machines were inherently unreliable," he said. "So in essence what Mr. Boies is saying to this court is that anytime there's a Votomatic machine in a close election and somebody says count all the ballots, you must do so. "
In his brief argument, Joseph Klock, the attorney for Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, took issue with the justices' initial decision to extend the recount deadline.
Klock answered carefully when Justice Harry Lee Anstead asked if the court didn't have the authority to interpret conflicting statutes. Klock suggested such a move could lead to an endless stream of legal and electoral disputes.
"There is just so much baggage that the word 'interpretation' can carry on its back," Klock said. "Going from seven days to 19 days, that's a lot of baggage."
After the hearing, surrogates for the candidates were cautious in their statements.
"We look forward to the decision," said Gore's campaign chairman, William Daley.
"I was pleased with the argument," said Richard.
Gore watched the hearing with his running mate, Joseph Lieberman, at his Washington residence before going to a café for lunch. Bush arrived at the state capitol in Austin just as the proceedings began and it wasn't immediately clear whether the Texas governor watched. |
