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

To: Mephisto who wrote (9671)	3/12/2001 12:34:23 AM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 10042

Less Talk of Florida Voting Reform as Jeb Bush Unveils Plan March 7, 2001 By DANA CANEDY From The New York Times TALLAHASSEE, Fla., March 6 — In his first address to Florida lawmakers since the presidential election thrust the state into the international spotlight, Gov. Jeb Bush outlined his vision for tax relief, investment in education and improving nursing home care, but only briefly touched on the 36-day drama that put his brother in the White House. Mr. Bush's State of the State address opened this year's regular session of the Florida Legislature and was delivered before an audience that included many of those whose names and faces became familiar fixtures on television sets nationwide during the election. There was Katherine Harris, the now-famous secretary of state, whose rulings on absentee ballots and late election returns made her the subject of numerous lawsuits and equal doses of criticism and praise. There were John McKay, the Florida Senate president, and Tom Feeney, the speaker of the Florida House, who in December convened a special session of the Legislature to appoint a slate of Bush electors. And there were the Florida Supreme Court justices, whose decision to order a manual recount of ballots in contested counties across the state was effectively reversed by the United States Supreme Court, ending former Vice President Al Gore's challenge of the election results. Florida is facing a tight budget year, but Mr. Bush, nonetheless, outlined a wish list of priorities that called for spending more money for teacher recruitment and retention and improving the quality of nursing homes while also reducing the so- called intangible tax on assets like stocks and bonds. "Improving public schools, providing quality long-term care, dealing with development, cutting taxes, these are all issues that should be at the forefront of the public agenda," Mr. Bush said. It hardly seemed like the same State Capitol that was at the center of the election chaos just four months ago. In fact, the governor's speech, which he delivered in about 45 minutes, included only two paragraphs at the end about the election. "And finally," Mr. Bush told the legislators, "we must make reliable and accurate the very machinery of democracy, the voting process." He urged lawmakers to "dedicate the resources that are needed to modernize our voting systems and move forward with confidence into the next election cycle." The day before his address, Mr. Bush's study group on election reform presented him with a 78-page report of its findings and recommendations. Mr. Bush said then that replacing outdated voter equipment across the state was a top priority, though he gave NO specific recommendations for doing so in his address. Democrats said Mr. Bush's speech was surprisingly short on references to election reform, especially given his very public pronouncement the day after the election was settled that he was appointing a bipartisan study group to recommend proposals to update the state's voting system. "What I'm afraid of is that the governor is not making this a front- burner issue," said Senator Kendrick Meek, a Miami Democrat. "We have to deal with it in this session." Several Democratic legislators said the Republicans seemed to be softening their oratory about the need for election reform, particularly to spending money to upgrade the system. Mr. Bush's study group has suggested that the state consider investing up to $40 million to lease optical scanning equipment for use in all of Florida's 67 counties. Senator McKay said that he did not favor spending the money to put the equipment in every precinct but that he and fellow Republicans were still committed to improving the state's election system. "I think we need to work on voter education," Mr. McKay said. And he added: "We will do something. Whether we fix the system depends on how you define the term fix." Debate about voting equipment, though, was overshadowed by a focus among many in legislators on Mr. Bush's proposed $43.3 billion budget, a 3 percent increase over last year's, and his proposed tax cut on intangible assets. Democrats say the state cannot afford the cut at a time when a slowing economy has resulted in a tight budget and possibly having to cut health services and many programs for single mothers, children and the poor. But Mr. Bush defended the tax cut in his address, saying it would also help some people on fixed incomes. "I think we all can agree that taxing people on fixed incomes or taxing the capital that grows small businesses is bad public policy," he said. nytimes.com

To: Mephisto who wrote (9671)	3/12/2001 2:48:27 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

Fresh evidence has emerged in Florida that Al Gore might have won last year's presidential election under a less contentious voting system, and if the US supreme court had not stepped in to stop the recount. Martin Kettle in Washington Monday March 12, 2001 The Guardian Fresh evidence has emerged in Florida that Al Gore might have won last year's presidential election under a less contentious voting system, and if the US supreme court had not stepped in to stop the recount. A comprehensive new survey of "undervotes" in Palm Beach county shows that Mr Gore would have gained 784 more votes than George Bush if every excluded paper bearing some kind of mark next to a candidate's name had been counted. The butterfly ballot, which has candidates' names on opposing pages with a row of punch holes in the middle, confused thousands of voters in the Democratic stronghold, which was one of the areas at the centre of the post-election recount battle. Those Palm Beach votes would have been enough on their own for Mr Gore to overtake Mr Bush, who was declared the winner in Florida by a statewide margin of 537 votes. The Palm Beach recount figures came too late to be included in the official tally of votes certified by the Florida secretary of state Katherine Harris 19 days after the November 7 election. The new survey, conducted by the Palm Beach Post, looked at all the 9,150 disputed undervotes of all kinds, including 5,736 which contained marks next to the names of Mr Bush and Mr Gore and which Judge Burton ordered should not be counted. The researchers found that these dimpled chads held the key to Mr Gore's chances. guardian.co.uk

To: Mephisto who wrote (9671)	3/12/2001 2:58:21 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 10042

But the final results may not have been FINAL - Mephisto "The American people have spoken," said Bill Clinton shortly after election day. "It's too bad it's going to take a little while to determine what it was they had to say." The final result, which came five weeks later, put the Texas governor, George W Bush, in the White House. But the intervening period had been far from smooth: allegations of vote-rigging, ballot stealing and regular recourse to the law courts seemed to threaten the very basis of American democracy. From The Guardian, March 12 guardian.co.uk