I tentatively agree with John on this one: Florida should be going to
Gore at this point, but it might be disastrous if the democrats try to
play hardball and force a revote in the counties affected by the bad
ballot.
On the other hand, if Gore has the popular vote, and if enough people
in affected counties are complaining, and if the ballot is obviously badly
designed, then it seems to me that the government of Florida has a duty to
the truth and to Americans to volunteer a revote before any democrats sue
for it. Just invite the people who already signed the voting rolls--don't
let anybody vote who didn't do so last time--and recount.
By the same token, the democrats should offer to wait until all absentee
and overseas ballots are counted, since there's strong evidence to suppose
that they will mostly go for Bush, and IIRC there are still 2000 or so of
those uncounted. Give it a week, and we could be talking about a victory
by just a dozen votes for whoever wins.
It seems to me that if both sides agree to play fair, there's no need for
haste.
Marvin Long
Austin, Texas
