-Caveat Lector-
December 3 2000
Brother Jeb accused of dirty tricks
Matthew Campbell and Tom Rhodes
SUPPORTERS of Al Gore, the Democratic presidential candidate,
accused opponents in Florida of using political skulduggery to block his
path to the White House as a judge opened a hearing on disputed ballots
that could prove decisive in the protracted election battle.
Judge Sanders Sauls, the latest hitherto unknown Florida official to be
thrust under the spotlight, heard statements yesterday from Gore's lawyers,
who challenged the legitimacy of the Republican George W Bush's victory
in the state by a margin of 537 votes and asked for other ballots to be
counted.
"The certified results reject a number of legal votes and include a number of
illegal votes," claimed David Boies, a lawyer for Gore.
He predicted that a review of 9,000 votes from Miami-Dade county would
unearth at least 2,000 valid ones which, if counted, could "place in doubt"
Bush's victory.
Various experts, including one on voting machines and another who quoted
George Orwell's Animal Farm to make the point that all votes should be
considered equal, were paraded in front of the judge, a balding,
bespectacled figure who usually presides over divorce cases.
The Democrats, who have until December 12 to contest that result, are
accusing Jeb Bush, the Republican candidate's younger brother, of using
his clout as Florida governor to tilt the Republican-dominated state
apparatus against them.
An analysis by the Miami Herald newspaper suggested that, had it not
been for faulty voting machines and other irregularities at the polling
booths, Gore would have carried Florida - and won its crucial 25 votes in
the electoral college that picks the president - by a margin of 23,000.
If Gore does not prevail in the Tallahassee court, there is hope for him
elsewhere. On Wednesday another Florida judge will hear a request for
15,000 absentee ballots to be thrown out of the final election count. If this
happens it could mean a gain of up to 4,800 votes for Gore.
The United States Supreme Court could also play a decisive role. It heard
arguments last Friday about the validity of a ruling by Florida's top court,
which had extended a deadline for counting ballots by hand.
However, even if Sauls rules in Gore's favour - raising the prospect that
several hundred more votes could be allotted to him - the vice-president
may be hard-pressed to claim victory.
The Republican-dominated Florida legislature has left open the possibility
of defying the courts with an unprecedented edict creating its own slate of
electors pledged to Bush. That, according to Democrats, is where Bush's
brother came in.
Lois Frankel, leader of the Democrats in the Florida house of
representatives, claimed the younger Bush had orchestrated the
legislature's decision to hold a hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, to
consider the edict.
The Florida governor said he would not hesitate to sign into law a bill that
would name electors for his brother, whatever the outcome of Gore's legal
challenge. "I know the Gore campaign would like me to disown my family,
but I'm going to do what's right," he added.
The Tallahassee hearing was the latest act in a post-election drama that
has captivated the nation.
Yesterday it was left to Sauls to ponder a denouement. Peering over his
glasses at an army of big city lawyers, he rocked in his chair, occasionally
urging a witness to be brief. He had expressed impatience with both
teams, saying their barrage of motions made him feel as if he was being
"nibbled to death by a duck".
The Gore team sought to prove that faulty equipment prevented thousands
of Democrat voters from marking ballot papers in a manner that could be
deciphered by machines used to count the ballots.
An expert on voting machines gave an exhaustive account of how "chad
build-up" - a blockage of tiny rectangles detached from their perforations
on the ballot paper - may have prevented other papers from being properly
"punched".
Only hand counts, they argued, could determine what such voters had
intended.
In the end, however, the battle of the absentee ballots could prove pivotal. In
Seminole county, a Democrat complained that an election supervisor had
allowed Republican party operatives to spend more than a week correcting
absentee ballot applications that would otherwise have been rejected.
A case in Martin county, also to be heard on Wednesday, seeks to
invalidate another 9,773 absentee votes. Bush lawyers have argued that
the cases have no legal merit, but are taking them extremely seriously. "Of
all the lawsuits pending," said Nat Stern, a law professor from Florida State
University, "this could be Gore's best shot."
Copyright 2000 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on
Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a
licence to reproduce material from The Sunday Times, visit the
Syndication website.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
}}}> ANOMALOUS RADIO <{{{ - Techno, Ambient, Talk (33k+)
http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?autostart=anomalous
}}}> RADIO ANOMALY <{{{ - Techno, Ambient, Jazz (Cable, DSL)
http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?autostart=stevew168
Anomalous Images and UFO Files
http://www.anomalous-images.com
<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
