To: PROLIFE who wrote (106406 ) 12/8/2000 6:36:40 PM From: Zoltan! Respond to of 769667 CHIEF JUSTICE WELLS' DISSENT * Chief Justice Wells: "I could not more strongly disagree with their decision to reverse the trial court and prolong this judicial process. I also believe that the majority's decision cannot withstand the scrutiny which will certainly immediately follow under the United States Constitution. My succinct conclusion is that the majority's decision to return this case to the circuit court for a count of the undervotes from either Miami-Dade County or all counties has no foundation in the law of Florida as it existed on November 7, 2000, or at any time until the issuance of this opinion." (p. 41 Dissenting Opinion of Chief Justice Wells) * Wells: "Under our law, of course, a decision of a trial court reaching a correct result will be affirmed if it is supportable under any theory, even if an appellate court disagrees with the trial court's reasoning. Dade County School Bd. V. Radio Station WQBA, 731 So. 2d 638, 644-645 * Wells: "Directing the trial court to conduct a manual recount of the ballots violates article II, section 1, clause 2 of the United States Constitution, in that neither this Court nor the circuit court has the authority to create the standards by which it will count the undervoted ballots. (p. 54) * Wells: "A continuing problem with these manual recounts is their reliability. It only stands to reason that many times a reading of a ballot by a human will be subjective, and the intent gleaned from that ballot is only in the mind of the beholder. This subjective counting is only compounded where no standards exist, or, as in this statewide contest, where there are no statewide standards for determining voter intent by the various canvassing boards, individual judges, or multiple unknown counters who will eventually count these ballot. I must regrettably conclude that the majority ignores the magnitude of its decision. * Wells: "To me, it is inescapable that there is no practical way for the contest to continue for the good of this country and state." (p. 58)