>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 11/13/00 11:32AM >>>
Another reason that the Dems can complain that Gore should have won,
besides the miscounts and the wierdness of the electoral college
favoring small states, is the census miscount, which gives too little
weight to the large urban areas.
Yours in deligitimization and gridlock,.
(((((((((((((((((
CB: Federal Court just ruled that hand count in Florida will go on. Bush loses first
round in court.
I was thinking all conservative elements would want an early resolution and decision
as to who wins. The Bushites came right out at first and postured that going to court
was irresponsible, unpatriotic ( like going to court is unAmerican ?).
Now things have developed that Bush went to court first ! We may have a true crisis
here !
Bush must think that he will lose by hand recounts. This is a reversal of the initial
balance of the situation, in which Bush thought he would win and didn't want Gore to
go to court to prolong. Now Bush is acting in a manner that is likely to prolong the
process, i.e. the best bet for the biggest crisis.
But we are not to big crisis yet.
Monday, November 13, 2000
Copyright 2000
The Detroit News.
Judge to hear Bush's hand-count challenge
Request to halt Florida vote tally in court today
By Lisa Zagaroli / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- The dispute over who will be the country's next president heads
today to a U.S. district court in Florida, where a federal judge will consider George
W. Bush's request to stop the hand count of votes in counties singled out by
Vice-President Al Gore.
Counting on the court
Should the hand re-counting of ballots be allowed to proceed in Florida by U.S.
District Judge Donald Middlebrooks?
In Miami, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks was to hear Bush's request for an
injunction on what would be the third count of votes cast Nov. 7 in four counties in
Florida, where the winner of the state's 25 electoral votes is likely to propel either
candidate into the Oval Office.
Both parties on Sunday previewed their legal strategies for the court hearing.
Top Bush adviser James A. Baker III said the GOP legal team will argue that manual
recounts in only four of Florida's 67 counties would constitute unequal treatment
under the 14th Amendment. Baker said Florida has no uniform standard for reviewing the
ballots, and suggested that Democrats who control the contested counties would play
favorites.
Gore's adviser, Warren Christopher, responded by saying vote recounts are a routine
necessity of democracy.
Democrats filed court papers Sunday night arguing that Florida's manual ballot law
is constitutional. The countersuit also said Bush's complaints threaten Florida's
right to run its own elections.
Gore trailed in Florida's Election Day vote count by about 1,700 votes. On Friday,
Secretary of State Katherine Harris said the recount showed Bush leading by 960 votes
with 66 counties reporting. The 67th county, Palm Beach, is under a local court order
not to certify results until after a hearing Tuesday on voters' lawsuits over the
ballot design.
