-Caveat Lector-
Judge's Injunction Would Put Fla. Outcome on Hold
By Christina Pino-Marina
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Thursday , November 9, 2000
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida -- The outcome of the nation�s disputed
presidential election was put on hold late Thursday by a Circuit
Court judge in West Palm Beach who granted a temporary
preliminary injunction in favor of two women who allege they
voted incorrectly because of confusing ballots.
Judge Kathleen Kroll, a judge in the 15th Judicial Circuit in
Palm Beach County, granted the injunction around 9 p.m. on a
motion filed by lawyers representing Beverly Rogers and Ray
Kaplan, two women from Boca Raton.
Kroll�s injunction prevents state and county officials from
certifying as final the result of the presidential election.
The judge�s decision was based upon violations of Florida state
laws concerning the format of election ballots, the injunction
said, and it said the ballot was confusing and �printed in such a
way that Plaintiffs were deprived of their right to freely
express their will.�
�This is not just about one county,� said lawyer David H.
Krathen, who represents Kaplan. �It is about a national election
for the president of the United States.� Hundreds of people
protested in the streets of West Palm Beach Thursday because some
area voters said they might have mistakenly cast votes for Reform
Party Candidate Patrick J. Buchanan instead of Democratic
candidate Vice President Al Gore, who was just a few hundred
votes behind Texas Gov. George W. Bush after statewide vote
recount efforts. A Florida elections canvassing commission in
charge of recounting votes cast in the county on Nov. 7 expected
the crucial count to be completed by next Tuesday and some
ballots would be recounted by hand.
In Thursday's legal proceedings, Kaplan teamed up with lawyer
Gary M. Farmer, Jr., who represented Rogers, his 55-year-old
mother-in-law. The two women were not present in the courthouse.
�We filed an emergency motion because we wanted a ruling today,
before the commissions certified any of the elections,� said
Farmer. �I believe they (the clients) have a well-founded fear
that they did vote for the wrong person.�
Others had filed class action lawsuits in the circuit court on
Wednesday and Thursday demanding a county-wide re-vote, but
Krathen and Farmer said they do not know details of those
lawsuits.
The defendants in the injunction included the Elections
Canvassing Commission of the State of Florida; Florida Governor
Jeb Bush, the brother of George W. Bush; Secretary of State
Katherine Harris; Clay Roberts, Director of the Division of
Elections for the State of Florida; Theresa LaPore, Supervisor of
Elections for Palm Beach County; the Palm Beach County Elections
Canvassing Commission; Al Gore; and George W. Bush.
Krathen said the motion for a preliminary injunction was faxed to
all the parties involved. Thursday�s injunction calls for an
additional hearing next Tuesday at 1 p.m.
The ballots used in Palm Beach County appear to have violated at
least two state statutes, Farmer said.
State law requires that ballots display candidates� names on the
left hand side with spaces for selection marks appearing adjacent
to the right of the candidate�s name. The ballots in question
featured blank spaces adjacent to both the Democratic and Reform
party candidates for president and vice president. Though arrows
pointed to the correct spaces for each candidate, some voters
said the ballot seemed misaligned.
The names� order of appearance should also be based on the number
of votes each party�s candidate received in the previous
gubernatorial election, Farmer said. The names on the Nov. 7
ballots were out of order, Farmer said, because Buchanan was
listed second behind Bush on the ballot even though the Reform
party received less votes than the Democratic party in the last
gubernatorial election.
"Our clients intended to vote for Al Gore," said Farmer, who had
paced the tiled floors of the courthouse for six hours before the
injunction came. "They are upset about that. There sense of
being upset has been magnified by the closeness of this election
and the fact that the entire country is waiting for the results
from Florida."
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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