November 22, 2000

Miami-Dade County Ends Recount
UPI
MIAMI (UPI) - The Miami-Dade County elections canvassing board has voted 3-0 against holding a recount and has declared the votes certified Nov. 8 as the county's total. They had considered counting only the 10,750 under votes -- ballots without a vote for any presidential candidate -- but decided against it. Canvassing Board Chairman Laurence D. King told election supervisor David Leahy to "notify the secretary of state that it is the unanimous decision of this canvassing board that we will not be proceeding further with the manual recount and that the certification of Nov. 8, 2000, be the certification that is accepted by the secretary of state for the valid cast votes of Miami-Dade County."

Florida Judge Rules on Dimpled Ballots
Reuters
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida judge told Palm Beach County election officials on Wednesday that they could accept so-called dimpled ballots but only so long as voter intent was clearly discernible -- a decision that could yield votes for Democrat presidential candidate Al Gore. In a ruling on standards to be used in the county's crucial manual recounts of votes from the Nov. 7 election, Judge Jorge LaBarga said the county should reject any ballot where the voter's intent was not clear.

Cheney Has Artery Stent Put In
By Ron Fournier / The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Doctors operated on Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney on Wednesday to insert a stent inside a heart artery that had narrowed and was causing chest pains. Cheney did not have a heart attack, but admitted himself to George Washington University Hospital early Wednesday with chest pains. Testing uncovered an artery that had narrowed since his last heart checkup in 1996.

Bush OKs Lawyers To File Appeal
By Linda Deutsch / The Asociated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - George W. Bush authorized his lawyers Wednesday to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to shut down Florida's ballot recounts in the fiercely competitive presidential race, The Associated Press has learned. The appeal was expected to be lodged later Wednesday, said two Republican officials familiar with the internal deliberations. Bush made the decision after meetings Wednesday with staff and lawyers. ``Make no mistake,'' the Texas governor said in a nationally televised statement. ``The court rewrote the law.''

Bush Forces File Suit Over Disqualified Military Ballots
By Paul Singer / United Press International
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UPI) -- In the ongoing battle over every vote in Florida, attorneys for Texas Gov. George W. Bush filed suit Wednesday in a state court asking that the court reinstate hundreds of overseas military ballots that were rejected by county election officials. Republicans have for several days been attacking Democrats for challenging the legitimacy of ballots from overseas military personnel. According to GOP sources, of 3,733 ballots cast in Florida by overseas military personnel, 1,527 were rejected by county commissioners.

Florida Speaker Feeney: Support Building for Legislative Intervention
By Carl Limbacher / NewsMax.com
Less than a day after the Florida Supreme Court ruled that Secretary of State Katherine Harris must extend the deadline for hand recounts before certifying the state's presidential election winner, Florida's Speaker of the House Tom Feeney announced that he was considering intervening in the election crisis. "There is increasingly compelling evidence of widespread mischief, human error, vote and ballot manipulation in the manual recount process," Feeney told reporters Wednesday afternoon. "One of the reasons the Florida legislature was so clear in having a very definite deadline set out in statute, which the court has decided to ignore, is to make certain we never had to be in a position where you had the charade that is going on now."

Bush Blasts Florida Ruling, Reassures on Cheney's Health
United Press International
TALLAHASSEE (UPI) - Republicans counterattacked on multiple fronts Wednesday after Florida's Supreme Court the night before allowed hand recounts to proceed in three Florida counties that could hold the key to who takes over the White House in January, though one of those counties decided a recount could not be completed in time. Republican Texas Gov. George W. Bush blasted the court for having "changed the rules" two weeks after Election Day, and some Florida legislators said they would consider calling a special session to try to nullify the court's ruling. "Make no mistake, the court rewrote the law," Bush said. "It changed the rules and it did so after the election was over. Manual recounts will continue in three selective counties, with no uniform standards, no clear direction and therefore no fair or accurate result."

Florida Legislature Mulls Options
By Jeffrey McMurray / The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –– After suffering a major setback in the state Supreme Court, allies of George W. Bush are talking about the Florida Legislature getting into the picture of determining how Florida's votes go in the presidential election. Florida lawmakers, most of whom are Republicans, were considering a special legislative session to potentially choose a new method of selecting the state's 25 electors if they are certified for Democrat Al Gore. There are two primary ways to call a special session. The most likely is for the Senate president and House speaker – both Republicans – to jointly call one. Otherwise, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the candidate's brother, would have to step in and issue a proclamation.

Fla. Dems Ask Judge for Definition
By Marcy Gordon / Associated Press Writer
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Democrats trying to help Al Gore gain hundreds of votes in the vitally important Palm Beach County recount are asking a judge to force the elections board to use a broaden the definition of a valid ballot. Saying the county's ongoing hand count of presidential ballots is excluding too many voters, the Democrats were bringing their objections to Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga on Wednesday.

GOP Threatens Electoral Challenge
By Curt Anderson / The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid escalating Republican attacks on the Florida recount, a House GOP leader said Wednesday that Congress would be prepared to challenge the presidential election if enough questions are raised about the legitimacy of the winner. ``We in the House must be aware of one fact: In the end, when the final analysis is brought to the House, it is our duty to accept or reject that,'' House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said in an interview. ``We need to be able to say we're confident the process was legal and compliant with the Constitution before we cast a vote to accept it,'' Armey said. Right now, he said, ``It's a mess.''

Earlier News Articles...

Dick Cheney Hospitalized With Chest Pains
CNN News
WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney was hospitalized Wednesday morning with chest pains and was undergoing tests, Bush campaign spokeswoman Karen Hughes said. "My understanding is that Secretary Cheney had some chest pains early this morning, and as a precaution, he went to George Washington Hospital where he is undergoing tests," Hughes said.

Baker Reacts To Florida Supreme Court Decision
By Kathy Gambrell / UPI
WASHINGTON (UPI) - Former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker denounced late Tuesday the Florida Supreme Court ruling that hand-counted presidential election ballots must be included in the state's final tally, saying that Texas Gov. George Bush may seek relief in the state legislature. "At Monday's oral argument before the Florida Supreme Court, Justice Harding asked a key question about Florida's electoral laws and standards: 'Is it right to change the rules in the middle of the game?' "Today, Florida's Supreme Court rewrote the legislature's statutory system, assumed the responsibilities of the Executive branch, and side-stepped the opinion of the trial court as the finder of fact. Two weeks after the election, that Court has changed the rules and invented a new system for counting the election results. One should not now be surprised if the Florida Legislature seeks to affirm the original rules." Full Text of Statement.

Now Gore Disavows Tampering With Electors
NewsMax.com
Al Gore hailed the Democrat-appointed Florida Supreme Court's ruling to include hand recounts in three Democrat-dominated counties in Florida's vote tally. "Democracy is the winner tonight," Gore said. At a news conference, Gore repeatedly used his stock phrases "the will of the people" and "democracy," although the United States is a constitutional republic, not a democracy. Notably, Gore waited until after the court's action, which boosts his chances of taking over the White House, to disavow Democrat attempts to push Electoral College voters into switching their votes from George W. Bush to him.

Florida Legislators Say Law Would Allow Them to Name Electors
By Donald Lambro / The Washington Times
Florida legislators said yesterday they are considering using a federal law that would let them name the state's 25 electors if the presidential election stalemate is not resolved before the Dec. 12 deadline to certify them. As the Republican-controlled Legislature was sworn in yesterday in the midst of the legal and political turmoil that has gripped the state since the Nov. 7 election, Republican leaders were studying a 1948 federal statute that permits them to appoint a slate of electors if one has not been chosen through the normal elections process.

Unpostmarked Ballot Count Nixed
By Jeffrey McMurray / The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Despite political uproar, few election officials in Florida's 67 counties found any reason Tuesday to reconsider overseas absentee ballots rejected for lack of a postmark, as the state's Democrat attorney general has urged. The letter Monday from Attorney General Bob Butterworth, an ally of Democrat presidential candidate Al Gore, urged the counting of ballots that were tossed out because they lacked a postmark but were otherwise valid. But a spot check of a number of Florida counties, including those with major military installations, found no movement toward reconsidering the overseas ballots.

Republican Hope Fades For Military Vote Tally
By Dave Boyer / The Washington Times
Hope faded for Republicans yesterday that Florida officials would reconsider disqualified overseas absentee ballots in the presidential election, as counties shrugged off the state attorney general's advice for a recount. "It's not a legal opinion," said Democrat Bill Cowles, Orange County supervisor of elections, of the attorney general's advisory. "We were already aware of the issue, and the Orange County canvassing board is currently not scheduled to reconvene."

Democrat Ballot Challenges Anger Military
By Thomas E. Ricks / The Washington Post
A young U.S. Army captain posted to Hungary but who votes in Florida said yesterday that he was "disappointed and upset" to find out over the weekend that his absentee ballot probably was one of the 19 reportedly disallowed in Leon County. He isn't the only angry soldier out there. "We'll obey orders" if Gore wins, the captain in Hungary said. But he would do so believing that "there's definitely something wrong with the system."

Military Allegedly Denied Voting Rights
UPI
SAN ANTONIO (UPI) - A Texas lawyer said Tuesday he planned to file a lawsuit directly with the U.S. Supreme Court alleging hundreds in the military were denied their right to vote Nov. 7 because of widespread voter fraud. San Antonio attorney Phillip E. Jones said he would carry the lawsuit to Washington to file it directly with the nation's highest court "because it's so important." The U.S. Supreme Court will accept such cases if time is a factor and the government is a defendant, he said.

Subcommittee Chairman Looks At Florida Overseas Ballot Count
By Kathy Gambrell / UPI
WASHINGTON (UPI) - The chairman of the House Military Personnel Subcommittee spent Monday in Florida examining how absentee military ballots were counted during the presidential election. Indiana Republican Steve Buyer reviewed ballots after reports surfaced last week that nearly 40 percent of the overseas ballots were disqualified for late postmarks and absent signatures.

'Dimpled' Counts May Be Gore's Last Chance
By Andrew Cain / The Washington Times
Vice President Al Gore, who won another critical reprieve last night, is counting on contested "dimpled" ballots as his last resort in the disputed presidential election. The Florida Supreme Court ruled unanimously last night that hand recounts in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties must be added to the state's total if completed this weekend.

Reduced to Staring at Chads
By Howard Kurtz / Washington Post
This is what it's come to. The grand drama, the constitutional crisis, the national cliffhanger has, at this juncture, been reduced to hordes of reporters staring at groups of election workers squinting at pieces of paper in search of miniscule holes.

Counting Dimpled Chads
The Associated Press
Florida counties have different standards for counting votes and considering "dimpled chads."

Monkey Business?
By Dale Sheldon / Sun-Sentinel
It has been said, "If you leave a monkey punching a typewriter long enough, he'll type out the Bible." If we leave a couple hundred in front of those ballots long enough, they'll punch out enough chads to elect Gore forever.

27,000 'Undervote' Ballots Could Decide The Presidential Election
By David Royse / The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE -- Teams of counters in three South Florida counties are painstakingly reviewing more than 1.7 million ballots, but it may only take a small fraction to make a difference. So-called "undervote" ballots --about 27,000 of them -- are the ones drawing the most attention and sparking the most controversy with their dimples and chads.

Key Palm Beach Vote Count Will Finish, Under Unclear Rules
By Mark Benjamin / UPI
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (UPI) - Palm Beach County election officials said Tuesday they will finish a hand count of ballots here by a Monday morning deadline set by the Florida Supreme Court, but key rules on counting "dimpled" ballots that could decide the fate of the election remain in flux.

Palm Beach Judge Sets Wednesday Hearing
By David Lawsky / Reuters
WEST PALM BEACH -- Democrats Tuesday asked a judge to clarify his order setting standards for the hand recount of ballots, after four days of work turned up few of the votes Al Gore needs to win the Nov. 7 presidential race.

Miami-Dade on Track To Finish Dec. 1
By Catherine Wilson / The Associated Press
MIAMI -- Miami-Dade's election supervisor said Tuesday the county was on track to finish its hand recount of some 654,000 presidential ballots by Dec. 1 – as long as skirmishes are kept to a minimum.

House Chairman Promises Fair Electoral Vote In Congress
By Mitchell Prothero / UPI
WASHINGTON (UPI) - The chairman of the House committee with responsibility for overseeing the presidential election promised Monday that the GOP will respect any state-certified outcome in the battle for Florida's electoral votes. The presidential race between GOP candidate George W. Bush and Democrat Vice President Al Gore will likely go to the winner of the Sunshine State's 25 votes in the electoral college.

Cheney's Residency Challenged
By Betsy Blaney / The Associated Press
DALLAS -- Three Texas voters have sued to block Gov. George W. Bush's election as president by challenging running mate Dick Cheney's status as a Wyoming resident. The lawsuit was filed hours after a similar lawsuit was dismissed in Florida.

Back to Index

A Service of The Covenant News