-Caveat Lector-
JOHN FUND'S POLITICAL DIARY
Journal Opinion Online
A Blatant Conflict of Interest
Theresa LePore should recuse herself from the Palm Beach
vote-count process.
Sunday, November 12, 2000 1:03 p.m. EST
If you would like to know exactly how your next president will be
determined, read this Saturday night dispatch from the Associated
Press:
During the manual count of votes in Palm Beach County, Fla.,
officials switched tests mid-count to decide the validity of
the ballots.
In the morning, the canvassing board said that they would
count a vote if any of the corners of the bits of paper
punched out of the cards called "chad" were punched.
The board then decided that they would instead use the
"sunlight test" if they could see sun come though an
indentation, it would count.
About a quarter of the way through the counting, however, a
board member determined that the light test was flawed and
told the other members to go back to the first test.
The change in procedures will undoubtedly slow down the hand
count as board members had to go back and recount all of the
votes previously counted using the new rules.
After six hours of playing Carnac the Magnificent, holding up
ballots and trying to divine the "intent" of the voters who cast
them, the three-member Palm Beach County election canvassing
commission completed its hand count of four sample precincts and
took up the question of whether they had turned up enough
"errors" using the new liberalized new standard to justify a
complete recount of the county's ballots.
County Judge Charles Burton, the commission's chairman, urged
caution. He put forth a motion to ask the Florida Secretary of
State's office for advice before proceeding with a full hand
count. But he was overruled. The vote for the complete recount,
which came after 2 a.m. today, was 2-1.
The two other members of the canvassing board are Carol Roberts,
a county commissioner, and Theresa LePore, the county elections
supervisor. Ms. Roberts is a highly partisan Democrat who met
with President Clinton in Palm Beach last year while she was
contemplating a run for Congress. Ms. LePore, an elected
Democrat, is the designer of the infamous "butterfly ballot" that
both Democrats and impartial observers say caused confusion on
Election Day.
Ms. LePore says she designed the ballot to make the print bigger
for seniors, the group complaining the loudest about it. But she
sent sample ballots to every voter and all candidates before the
election and didn't receive any complaints. Nonetheless, she has
come in for bitter criticism. The AP says she "might be the most
reviled Democrat in the country" because her ballot "may have
cost Al Gore the election." Ms. LePore has gone into
near-seclusion and has hired a lawyer to defend herself against
lawsuits.
It is for that reason that Ms. LePore should have recused
herself from the decision to launch an unprecedented hand count
of all presidential ballots in Palm Beach--and why she should
recuse herself from all subsequent decisions about this election.
She has a blatant conflict of interest. Ms. LePore has worked in
the Palm Beach election office since she was 16. As an elected
official, she obviously would like to continue in office. If she
did not approve the controversial hand count in the heavily
Democratic county, it's obvious she would have no political
future.
Two months ago, the same Palm Beach County election
commissioners rejected a request for a hand count in a disputed
GOP primary election for a state legislative seat seat. Beverly
Green begged for a hand count of her 13-vote loss but was
rebuffed. "It wasn't that close. The manual count is historically
when it's single digits," said Ms. LePore at the time. A state
House district is smaller than Palm Beach County, but a
single-digit margin in such a district would be the equivalent of
only about 100 votes countywide. Clearly Ms. LePore & Co. are
applying a double standard.
The decision to proceed with the hand count was made by a single
vote--Ms. LePore's. Do the American people want a single
low-level politician who fears for her job to decide who will be
the president of the United States?
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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