-Caveat Lector-
Judge to rule Monday on Seminole ballots
By Rene Stutzman of the Sentinel Staff
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on November 19, 2000
SANFORD -- A lawsuit asking that all 15,000 absentee ballots in
Seminole County be thrown out went nowhere Saturday, despite a
hearing that drew a small army of lawyers and more than a dozen
unhappy absentee voters.
They were joined outside the Seminole County Courthouse by more
protesters, who waved signs mocking Vice President Al Gore and
complaining that the suit was a stunt designed to give Gore a
4,800-vote bump.
Bush won Seminole County, thanks in part to 10,006 absentee votes
he received compared with 5,209 for Gore.
If Circuit Judge Debra Nelson rules that Seminole`s absentee
ballots should be junked, that could swing the national election
to Gore.
Nelson heard an hour`s worth of arguments during a rare Saturday
session, then announced she would decide by Monday morning
whether to toss out the suit. She gave no hint as to which way
she might rule, but she set aside Nov. 27 for more arguments.
At issue is whether Seminole`s supervisor of elections, Sandy
Goard, a Republican, broke the law when she allowed the GOP to
correct a minor error on about 4,700 absentee-ballot requests.
According to a suit filed Friday by Longwood lawyer Harry Jacobs,
Goard allowed a Republican employee and a party volunteer to set
up shop in her office and salvage the requests by writing in
missing voter-identification numbers.
The requests were the result of a mass mailing by the Florida
GOP. Goard declared the ones without the numbers invalid.
The suit accuses the GOP of voter fraud and Goard of collusion.
Goard was not at Saturday`s hearing.
Ken Wright, attorney for the state GOP, called the dispute a
"Hail Mary lawsuit."
In every other Florida county, election supervisors either
decided those requests were valid or had staff members write in
the numbers, he said.
Goard did nothing wrong, he said, and the GOP had a right to be
in her office because it`s a public place. "She simply provided
a chair and a place to work," he said.
Bush spokeswoman Mindy Tucker defended Goard. "There were no
actions that were in any way illegal or improper."
Bob Poe, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, said Goard did
not offer -- and he would never have accepted -- any offer to fix
defective absentee-ballot requests.
Jacobs, a personal-injury attorney, said nothing during the
hearing. Afterward, he told reporters, "I am not here
representing anybody other than myself. . . . I am here to
see if we can remedy this."
Eight absentee voters, represented by Liberty Counsel, a
conservative, religious-rights group, joined the legal fracas
Saturday, opposing Jacobs.
"We fought wars in this country, Your Honor, for the right to
vote," said Mathew Staver, the group`s president and general
counsel. To throw out the absentee ballots would be to treat the
people who cast them as "second-class citizens."
The real excitement of the day came after the hearing, when
absentee voters and sympathizers heckled Jacobs and denounced the
suit.
"Go chase ambulances, Harry," one protester shouted.
"We are not like Palm Beach weasels," said another. "We will
stand our ground."
Bob Russell, 81, of Sanford voted absentee and is one of those
fighting the suit. "What they`re trying to say is you`re not
important."
Another protester, Tim Brock, 47, said it would be wrong to toss
out the votes because of what he called "adminis-trivia."
Jacobs` attorney, Richard Siwica, said he was frustrated he had
to delay much of his argument for nine days. "The right to vote
by absentee ballot is not a right. It`s a privilege."
Scott Maxwell of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
Posted Nov 18 2000 9:20PM
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