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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: haqihana who wrote (168727)	8/7/2001 11:16:01 PM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 769667

Media Examine Harris' Computers By DAVID ROYSE Associated Press Writer Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris AP/Michael Temchine, File [19K] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Reporters began sifting through tens of thousands of computer files Tuesday to determine whether Secretary of State Katherine Harris erased documents about the 2000 election that a newspaper had asked to examine. Harris agreed to allow news organizations to check the hard drives of four computers after a July 15 New York Times report questioned whether Republican operatives influenced how Harris told elections officials to treat overseas absentee ballots. The newspaper said a draft memo to Harris from her staff after the election said overseas ballots had to be postmarked or signed and dated by Election Day. The Times reported that Harris never released that memo and later said that overseas ballots had to be ``executed'' by Election Day but were not required to be postmarked by Election Day. Florida officials counted hundreds of disputed overseas ballots, which were crucial to George W. Bush's 537-vote victory in Florida over Al Gore. An initial but far from exhaustive review by The Associated Press on Tuesday turned up no evidence that Harris switched positions on the absentee ballots. Hundreds of files were checked but the material made available includes tens of thousands of individual files. The material was provided by a computer data recovery firm hired by news organizations seeking the information. In a statement released by her office, Harris said no records were destroyed and ``no partisan political activity transpired in my office during the recount period.'' Democrats have complained bitterly that Harris, who served as Bush's Florida campaign chairwoman, used her position to boost Bush's chances of winning during the recount. The records on the computers, and whether they are public, have been in question since the Times reported that it was denied access to material on the machines and that it was told some data was erased. After the Times reported that it couldn't get access to the computers, several news organizations asked to see the hard drives. After initially denying the requests, Harris said last week that the news organizations could see them. Florida organizations hired the independent computer firm Ontrack Data International Inc. to inspect the drives to recover anything that may have been erased as well as everything still on the computers. Technicians with the firm said the computers showed no evidence of wholesale intentional erasures, although some files had been deleted. Ontrack Data, based in Minneapolis, was able to recover thousands of files of deleted material, which were turned over on 48 compact discs to reporters. Mostly, the computers contained drafts of speeches, news releases, some e-mail messages, cartoons, phone lists, and other office material. Among the items found were Harris' drafts of her internationally televised statement declaring Bush the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes. Another document on the state computer contained a speech praising Bush dated March 2000, eight months before the election. Harris' spokesman, David Host, said the speech was sent by someone outside Harris' office and that Harris never delivered the remarks. He said he did not know who sent the document. Ontrack Data said it found operating systems on three of the four computers had been reinstalled since the recount, limiting the data that could be recovered. Some material that was deleted could have been routine deletions associated with saving new files, said Kevin Bluml, a company forensic computer engineer.