-Caveat Lector-
At last, the Florida Supreme Court reached a decision favorable to the Al
Gore camp. And that makes Gore attorney Kendall Coffey and company very
happy. Now we can recount to our heart's content and magically find more
votes for Gore to push him over the top to the presidency. At least that's
what Gore strategists are hoping will happen.
Referring to the "respect of the rule of law" Coffey is clearly attempting
to take the high road and hijack what the George W. Bush camp has been
saying all along. While that may be smart public relations, it's pretty
transparent. The only reason why the Gore camp has most recently discovered
respect for the "rule of law" is because the state's Supreme Court ruled in
their favor and allowed for the recount to continue. Bush and his advisors,
while upholding the "rule of law," have argued that after two, and in some
places three, recounts, it's time to pack it in. For Gore, that is.
All throughout this Florida recount fiasco the public has been subjected to
the likes of that charlatan Jesse Jackson and his misguided accusations of
voter tampering, Gore trying to lure Bush into some strange meeting of the
minds and sleazy Democratic operatives attempting to sway elector votes.
None of that has worked, so now the Gore camp is jumping for joy after a
mostly Democrat-filled court heard their cry for yet another recount.
Still, what makes this all the worse is that these so-called "dimpled"
ballots will now be counted, as ruled by Florida's highest court. People
down in Florida will gingerly count those ballots where it's not clearly
punched through. Naturally, the Bush camp objects to this highly subjective
method for choosing the next President of the United States. After all,
nearly 10 years ago a Democrat elections official stated that those kinds of
ballots will not be counted. Yet, the Gore camp and its friendly sunshine
state supreme court have chosen to re-write the rules in the middle of the
game.
In a statement after the court's ruling, Gore expressed relief and
reaffirmed his belief in the "rule of law." But one wonders which "rule of
law" the Vice President is referring to -- the Constitutional rule of law or
the "litigate-till-we-get-our-way-rule-of-law."
If anything, after several recounts, the fact that the Gore camp chose to
attempt to win Florida's 25 electoral votes through the courts speaks
volumes. They will do and say just about anything to get elected. Even if it
means dragging the country through a lengthy litigation process, with a
state supreme court made up mainly of Democratic-appointed judges.
--
A.C. Szul
http://www.erols.com/mack97
"There is no truth, only fictions woven by power to justify itself." --
Bruce Thornton, "Plagues Of The Mind"
----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Richer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 06:31 PM
Subject: [CTRL] Gore Attorneys Seek Emergency Hearing
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
>
> Gore Attorneys Seek Emergency Hearing
>
>
> By Roberto Suro
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Tuesday, November 21, 2000; 11:05 AM
>
>
> WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov. 21 -- Lawyers for Vice President Gore are
seeking
> an emergency court hearing this morning to argue that local election
> officials are failing to count hundreds of so-called "dimpled" ballots
that
> should go in the Democratic column.
>
>
> So far, the laborious process of hand-counting votes in three South
Florida
> counties has produced smaller gains for Gore than had been expected in his
> effort to erase Texas Gov. George W. Bush's 930-vote lead, and lawyers for
> the Democratic Party grew concerned late yesterday that the recount will
fail
> to produce the trove of Democratic votes they have been counting on.
>
>
> In papers filed with Palm Beach Circuit Court Judge Jorge Labarga late
> yesterday the Democrats contended that the local canvassing board, a body
of
> three local officials which is overseeing the recount, has failed to
follow a
> previous finding by the judge allowing the counting of dimpled ballots –
> paper-punch ballots that show a clear indentation but were not perforated
by
> the voter on election day. A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for
> 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
>
>
> The Palm Beach canvassing board has completed a review of the hand recount
in
> 103 of 531 precincts, producing a net gain of three votes for Gore.
>
>
> "I have not seen much of a vote shift," said County Judge Charles E.
Burton,
> who heads the county canvassing board overseeing the Palm Beach recount.
>
>
> Democrats have challenged the board's findings on 276 ballots so far that
> they claim should be counted for Gore. The board concluded that in each of
> those cases the ballots lacked sufficient evidence of the voter's intent
to
> be counted. In some cases, the ballot showed more than one dimple in the
> presidential vote, Burton said. Another example he noted were ballots that
> showed clear perforations in the votes for other offices but a dimple only
in
> the presidential vote. That was not judged clear evidence that the voter
had
> difficulty managing the paper-punch ballot but meant to cast a vote for
> president, Burton said.
>
>
> The Palm Beach board is using stricter standards than canvassing boards in
> other cases where dimpled ballots have proved the key to determining a
final
> result, said Dennis Newman, and attorney for the Democratic Party. As of 9
> a.m. Judge Labarga had not indicated whether he would grant the Democrats'
> request for an emergency hearing, but with the hand recount proceeding he
was
> expected to move on the case quickly.
>
>
> The canvassing board has examined less that 2,000 ballots so far and at
least
> another 3,000 await their scrutiny.
>
>
> In Broward County, where 604 of 609 precincts and some absentee ballots
have
> been recounted, Gore had scored a net gain of 127 votes by late this
> afternoon, according to unofficial tallies. In Miami-Dade, where the hand
> recount just began yesterday and 67 of 614 precincts had been examined,
Gore
> picked up 46 votes, although that county’s vote was more closely divided
> between the two candidates than the other jurisdictions doing manual
recounts.
>
>
> The key for Gore lies in the more than 5,000 ballots that have been set
aside
> in the three counties because poll workers and party representatives at
the
> counting tables were not able to agree on whether the ballots should be
> counted. Most are partially perforated punch ballots in which the chad –
the
> bit of paper debris that is supposed to be punched out of the ballot – is
> still attached.
>
>
> According to Gore attorneys who pressed for the hand recounts,
vote-counting
> machines failed to tally thousands of partially perforated ballots in the
> three counties. "We expect to see a sizable number of ballots that are
> partially perforated or dimpled going for Gore once the canvassing board
has
> a chance to look at them closely," said Dennis Newman, a Democratic
attorney
> observing the Palm Beach recount.
>
>
> But that could take a while.
>
>
> In Broward County, the board will not begin examining 1,500 questionable
> ballots until the initial hand recount of all the precincts is completed,
> which could occur Tuesday. In Palm Beach County, the canvassing board has
> examined some of the questioned ballots but is not scheduled to work its
way
> through the bulk of the more than 4,000 ballots awaiting examination until
> after Thanksgiving Day.
>
>
> Both Broward and Palm Beach counties have decided that a ballot that has
been
> perforated on two corners should be recognized as a vote at the counting
> table. The canvassing boards will examine ballots perforated at only one
> corner as well as "dimpled" ballots that were apparently indented by the
> voter but not perforated.
>
>
> "Such a ballot may be counted as a vote if there is clear evidence of a
> voter's intent to cast a vote as determined by the discretion of the
> canvassing board," according to a statement by the Palm Beach board.
>
>
> Given that Broward County went 2-to-1 for Gore, County Judge Robert W. Lee
> predicted that many of the questioned ballots would add to the vice
> president's count.
>
>
> However, the Palm Beach canvassing board's decisions on the relatively
small
> number of questioned ballots it has examined thus far have already
produced
> new disputes. Democrats are challenging the board's decisions to exclude
276
> ballots and Republicans are challenging the exclusion of 73 more, Newman
said.
>
>
> In those situations, the party attorneys argue that the voter's intent is
> clear enough on these ballots to be counted while the board has decided
that
> the ballots are either spoiled or that the perforation or dimpling of the
> chad is not sufficient to determine what the voter had in mind.
>
>
> The board will not look at the challenged ballots again unless one of the
> parties successfully brings a lawsuit requiring such action. Most of these
> ballots have two dimples or a dimple and a partial perforation, Burton
said.
>
>
> The hand recount shows that counting machines did not tally a large number
of
> ballots in the presidential race because voters either voted for more than
> one candidate, thus spoiling their ballots, or voted in other races but
did
> not indicate any preference for president.
>
>
> In Palm Beach, for example, the recount of ballots from about one-fifth of
> the precincts turned up more than 400 ballots with no vote for president.
> According to initial estimates, about 10,000 ballots out of 462,350 cast
in
> Palm Beach did not register a vote for president. The final status of most
of
> those ballots remains in dispute.
>
>
> Questionable ballots are being passed from the counting tables to county
> canvassing boards, made up of three local officials who will have to
> determine whether the voter's intent is clear enough to count the ballot
for
> one of the presidential candidates.
>
>
> The number of questionable ballots coming up from the counting tables in
Palm
> Beach County declined drastically Sunday and yesterday as counters became
> more familiar with the rules and observers from the two major parties
heeded
> pleas from the canvassing board to work harder to resolve disputes at the
> counting tables, county officials said.
>
>
> Republican attorneys continue to challenge the legality of the hand
recounts,
> arguing that continued manipulation of the ballots and human
interpretation
> of the voters' intent is bound to introduce errors.
>
>
> © 2000 The Washington Post Company
>
>
>
>
> *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107,
> any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use
> without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest
> in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and
educational
> purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ]
>
> Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists!
>
> <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
> ==========
> CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing
propagandic
> screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are
> sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis-
> directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with
> major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and
thought.
> That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
> always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
> credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
>
> Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
> ========================================================================
> Archives Available at:
> http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
> <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
>
> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
> <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
> ========================================================================
> To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
> SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
> SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Om
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
