Under orders from Texas Gov. George W. Bush, furious Republicans turned to the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to try to stop hand recounts in three heavily Democratic Florida counties that could give Vice President Al Gore a presidential victory.
Bush, grasping a 930-vote lead out of the 6 million votes cast in Florida, told his attorneys to appeal to the nation’s highest court to reverse a Florida Supreme Court ruling and shut down manual vote recounts in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties.
On a day of legal twists, the Gore campaign found itself torn between a loss in Miami that could cost it thousands of potential votes and a victory in Palm Beach that might hand the vice president just enough support to challenge Bush’s lead, if not overtake it.
In an unexpected move, Miami-Dade officials stopped the recount on their own, arguing that the Sunday afternoon deadline set by the Florida high court did not give them enough time to accurately recount their ballots. Democrats immediately went to court to try to force the county to resume its hand recount but were rebuffed.
But hours later, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga ruled that the canvassing board in that county must “consider” as many as 2,000 dimpled ballots–those in which voters failed to make a clear hole in the cardboard beside a candidate’s name but left an indentation that could signal voting intention.
In Washington, attorneys for Bush requested an immediate injunction from the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the Florida hand recount.
“This is a case of the utmost national importance, involving the Constitution’s most fundamental rights as exercised in the nation’s most important election,” the attorneys for Bush said. “The outcome of the election for the presidency of the United States may hang in the balance.”
The ballot recounting intensified after the Florida Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday night that the manually recounted votes must be added to the official state tally. The state Supreme Court and its decision were roundly condemned by Bush and his supporters as being overtly partisan.
A defiant Bush appeared on national television from the Capitol in Austin, Texas, and boldly declared that the Democrats were trying to overturn the decision of Florida’s voters.
“I won the vote in Florida,” Bush said, charging that the state high court had “overreached,” exceeding its authority. “I believe some are determined to keep counting in an effort to change the legitimate result.”
Less guarded Republicans accused the Democrats of trying to steal the election. “Voter Fraud! Cheaters!” shouted Bush supporters who demonstrated at the vote-counting office in Miami.
The Gore campaign’s delight after a favorable ruling from the seven justices deflated Wednesday when election officials in Miami-Dade County, the biggest in the state, decided to stop recounting more than 10,000 disputed ballots. The Democrats went to court to force the election board to resume the count.
Hours later, in Palm Beach County, Gore and his supporters were buoyed again after Labarga ruled the dimpled ballots could be counted. Democratic officials said there were about 8,000 such ballots in the county, and that they believed most of them could result in votes for Gore.
Labarga’s decision didn’t require the counters to accept the dimples as votes or add them to vote totals, only to “consider” them and decide whether they reflect intent to vote for a candidate.
“I believe that is the standard we have been operating under,” said Charles Burton, the chairman of the Palm Beach County canvassing board. He also said the judge’s order would not significantly change the way the board has viewed the ballots.
The Palm Beach County votes became even more important to the Gore campaign after the Miami-Dade canvassing board decided to stop counting. At the time it suspended its vote, Gore had picked up 157 more votes in Miami-Dade, but county officials later said they would stick with their earlier, certified vote total.
In Broward County, Gore gained 137 votes with all 609 precincts manually recounted. Canvassing boards in Broward were still counting about 2,000 absentee and questionable ballots and decided to work on Thanksgiving to get the job done. Eighty-one of Gore’s votes came from absentee ballots in which punch holes had been taped over by voters who apparently made mistakes in their initial attempts to vote.
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“We have to stop distributing that instructional video, `How to Tape Over Your Chad,'” quipped David Fink, a Democratic attorney watching the recount process in Broward County.
None of the potential new election math that followed the Florida Supreme Court ruling sat well with the Bush camp. In various recounts up to Wednesday afternoon, Gore had picked up enough votes to cut Bush’s lead to 785, assuming those votes are added to state totals.
Like hornets whose nest had been hit by a rock, the Republicans unleashed an intense public-relations campaign Wednesday and filed lawsuits in 13 Florida counties urging courts to order election boards to accept some 1,500 absentee ballots, mainly from members of the military overseas, that had been rejected earlier as invalid because they lacked postmarks.
GOP officials also suggested they may turn to the Florida Legislature, controlled by Republicans, to hand-pick friendly presidential electors if the matter is not resolved in their favor. That would be a significant escalation in the political battle for the White House. The Republicans backed their threat with heated rhetoric.
“The [state] Supreme Court declared war on the rule of law in Florida. Seven radical Democratic lawyers have chosen to ignore the clear intent of Florida’s legislative and executive branches,” said Rep. Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.), in one of the harshest attacks on the court.
“The will of democratically elected officials has been usurped by a transparently partisan court. If it is political war they want, it is political war they should get.”
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) echoed Bush’s criticism that the state high court acted in a legislative role, overstepping the bounds of the judicial branch.
“The decision serves as a chilling reminder of the need for vigilance to ensure that the actions of unelected judges do not usurp the right of the people to govern themselves in a democracy. This cannot stand,” Lott said.
Democrats, who had claimed the media focus when the Florida high court issued its ruling late Tuesday, were restrained by comparison and occupied with their own legal challenges, particularly in Miami-Dade County.
“It is important that we listen to the Florida Supreme Court, that we listen to the clear rule of law and not turn our back on it,” said Gore campaign manager William Daley as he announced a lawsuit to try to force Miami-Dade to continue its hand recount.
Florida Democratic Chairman Bob Poe said Bush’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was a sign that Bush was just looking for friendly judges to back his cause.
“I find it very odd that he condemns the Florida Supreme Court but then wants to go to the United States Supreme Court,” Poe said.
There was reality behind the rhetoric on both sides. The Republicans now want those military absentee ballots counted to give Bush any comfort margin he can find; the Democrats press their case to add more and more votes to Gore’s tally.
Even with the setback in Miami-Dade, Democratic insiders said, Gore still could pick up the votes he needs to move ahead of Bush with the hand recounts in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
But neither side seemed willing to take anything for granted as the battle for the White House pushed on, with no conclusion in sight.