I haven't seen the information on the 19,000 ballots all being replaced by
valid ballots anywhere in the news. Some Bush backers have been reporting
that Mary Matalin called "somebody" in Palm Beach and got that information.
BTW, it's my understanding that the 14,000 ballots invalidated in the same
county in '96 includes all ballots invalidated for any reason whatsoever. The
number invalidated for double-punching is more like 7,000. So a more accurate
comparison is 7,000 invalidated for double-punching in '96 vs. 19,000
invalidated for double-punching in 2000.
In any case, I think the 19,000 ballots is going to be a side issue once we
get a more accurate and final count from Florida. I think Gore will pull
ahead once the legal votes not tallied by the computers are hand-counted, and
the absentees all come in. These are not "military absentee ballots," as the
Bush camp has been calling them, but all absentee ballots, including those
cast by Americans living in Israel, Democratic embassy personnel,
international US Post Office employees, students abroad, etc.
I think the Gore camp is backing off from the legal threats, since those
aren't playing well with the public and are probably unnecessary once the
real vote comes in. In fact, now it's the Bush camp suggesting they might go
to court to halt the hand counts, which are permitted by Florida state law.
Patrick Sweeney
