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Isle leaders were quick to react to today's Florida Supreme Court ruling on the state's contested presidential election, widely seen as a win for Al Gore. Local politicians
reflect party views
on Gore rulingA broad recount, including
undervotes, ordered for all
67 Florida counties -- far
more than Gore sought
Staff and wire reportsA sharply divided Florida high court ordered manual recounts to begin immediately today, breathing new life into Gore's quest for the White House. George W. Bush moved swiftly to appeal the ruling in the federal courts.
Within an hour of the 4-3 ruling, officials in both the Gore and Bush campaigns said they were dispatching dozens of aides to protect their interests in recounts that could cover as many as 45,000 ballots in dozens of Florida counties.
By its ruling, the court also added 383 votes to Gore's total from recounts already undertaken, apparently whittling Bush's previous 537-vote margin to 154 votes.
In Hawaii, Rep. Barbara Marumoto, chairwoman of the Bush campaign here, said the campaign was disappointed in the decision and was looking forward to an appeal.
"This political decision sets a dangerous precedent for every future election and furthers a process that is leading the country and the presidency towards a constitutional crisis."
But state Democratic Party Chairman Walter Heen said the decision means the country will know the real outcome of the Florida vote.
"I think the important thing about the decision is that it is important in ensuring what the real will of the Florida voter is.
"If this is the way it has to be done, then it takes time.
Democracy is not always efficient."
The Florida high court ruled as the Republican-controlled Legislature met in special session, ready to assure that Bush got the state's disputed 25 electoral votes regardless of the outcome of various court cases that proliferated in the nation's unprecedented presidential election adventure.
"The Legislature is convened for the sole and exclusive purpose" of making sure the state's electoral votes count when the Electoral College meets on Dec. 18, read John Phelps, the clerk of the House, speaking before a packed chamber and a nationwide television audience. The legislation itself listed the electors by name -- the ones picked by Bush when GOP Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified him the statewide winner last month.
Depending on the outcome of any recounts, the legislation could set up a contest between two rival Florida slates when the Electoral College votes are cast next week and then counted in Congress on Jan. 6. That, in turn, could ratchet up the controversy even further in the contest to pick a president.
"Two strikes, two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and Gore gets a hit," exulted Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, one of the Democrats who had said in advance that an adverse ruling could spell the end of the vice president's hopes.
"We're obviously thrilled and ready to do whatever we can to facilitate a quick and accurate count," said Gore's spokesman, Doug Hattaway.
Stung by the split opinion, Republican lawyers reviewed their options. One possibility was a two-pronged counterattack -- asking a federal judge or the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency order to stop the recounting while asking the U.S. Supreme Court for a final ruling settling the election. Bush himself had suggested earlier that he would appeal an adverse ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The ruling came little more than an hour after two trial court judges rejected a bid by Democrats to throw out 25,000 absentee ballots in Seminole and Martin counties. The twin rulings were serious setbacks for the vice president, even though he was not a formal party to either lawsuit.
Circuit Court Judges Nikki Clark and Terry Lewis ruled jointly, saying that despite irregularities in ballot applications -- the basis of the Democrats' challenge -- "neither the sanctity of the ballots nor the integrity of the elections has been compromised."
The high court ruling later in the afternoon was of greater political significance. In legal terms, the state high court's ruling overturned an opinion issued Monday by Circuit Judge N. Sanders Sauls. Sauls had rejected Gore's bid to overturn Bush's ruling and to order selective manual recounts in a few counties. But in political terms, it meant Gore had reason to hope he could yet overtake Bush.
Gore's aides were quick to say they believed that would happen when the recount was complete.
But the state's justices ordered a far broader recount than Gore had sought, saying that so-called undervotes -- meaning ballots on which there was no vote for president -- must be recounted in all 67 Florida counties "where such a recount has not yet occurred."
Recounts were completed earlier in Volusia and Broward counties, and the results incorporated into the results that Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified. A partial recount was completed in Miami-Dade County before the local canvassing board suspended its work. In addition, the Palm Beach County canvassing board completed a recount but submitted the results after the deadline that Harris had been enforcing.
While the court ordered the recount to begin immediately, it was not clear where or how that would happen.
The court's spokesman, Craig Waters, relaying the court's opinion, said the votes "shall be counted where there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter."
Regarding the state Legislature's action today, the speaker of the Florida House, Tom Feeney, acknowledged he has received advice from Bush intermediaries but denied the campaign was calling the shots. Such allegations from Democrats were "out of touch" with reality, he said.
But the Bush campaign said its lawyers "provided legal interpretations when asked by legislators, and no one could be surprised by that. Nor would anyone be surprised if such contacts occurred between Democratic legislators and Gore lawyers," said a spokesman, Tucker Eskew.
In a last-minute legal maneuver, Bush's lawyers filed an unusual clarification with the Supreme Court, telling the seven justices they do not have authority to grant Gore the manual recounts he seeks, reversing comments Bush attorney Barry Richard made yesterday in oral arguments that the high court had "limited" jurisdiction.
Gore has been attempting to overturn Bush's certified win in the courts, and win the manual recounting of thousands of ballots he says could reverse his rival's lead. The winner of the state's 25 electoral votes stands to take office in January as the nation's 43rd president.