The word you are looking for is discretion. I haven't seen any stories noting that the deadline had been moved before. And allowing for manual recounts and having a deadline are not mutually exclusive things. One can have a manual recount and meet the deadline. The fact that the Palm Beach County folks have decided to take a week after the election before starting (and were asked very late for that handcount) doesn't mean the deadline is normally impossible. The handcount should've been requested sooner. But if it is at her discretion (she says the only way she can delay the certification is if there was some sort of disaster that made certifying impossible. A close election doesn't meet that criteria), then she's perfectly within the bounds of the law to say no just as the County Canvassing Board was perfectly within their bounds to say yes to a manual recount (they didn't have to agree to it). The law seems pretty clear to me, though. For a candidate to say he wants us to respect the process and respect the rule of law and then come back and say the law shouldn't be followed is being hypocritical. Either you want the law followed or you don't. The courts should be used to make sure the law is being followed, not to create new laws. The law says 5pm Tuesday. That law should be enforced. If a County wants to make the deadline, they should count faster. ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page
mrpaige, What's more hypocritical... a republican trying to overrule a state law in a federal court or a democrat going to a state court asking them to interpret their own laws? There's no conflict in the demo's position. They just have better lawyers ( ). ------------------ "Everyone I know has a big but... come on Simone, let's talk about your but."
I have previously stated that Bush's going to court to stop a legal manual recount was a mistake and a bad idea all around. In saying that Gore is being hypocritical, I wasn't saying that Bush was unsullied. The Gore campaign is not going to court to have the laws interpreted. He's going to court to have the law overturned. Either he respects the rules or he doesn't respect the rules. At best, his case is that the Secretary of State has discretion to extend the deadline if she wants to. She apparently doesn't want to. So going to court is a clear effort to overturn the law and take away the Secretary of State's discretion (if she has any) and force her to accept an extention of the deadline. That's not respecting the rules or respecting the rule of law. In the Bush case, the Court ruled correctly. I hope the same is true when Gore's case is ruled on. If the candidates don't like the rules, they shouldn't play the game. ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page [This message has been edited by mrpaige (edited November 13, 2000).]
You misunderstand me Achebe. Regardless of how the partial re-count was arrived at, it is scientifically UNFAIR. The Democrats' demand for manual recount is based on the largely subjective argument that there were innaccuracies in the vote in certain counties. My objective point is that such a partial count WILL introduce disparity in the basis for counting votes. Were the Democrats' within their rights to demand a manual recount in certain counties: YES. Is the end result going to be fair under this scenario: NO That is my point. ------------------ Maybe all the rulers are wrong. Current Rocket's Salary & Contract Info [This message has been edited by davo (edited November 13, 2000).]
Now the Democrats in Broward County are threatening to sue to overturn another Florida law. The Broward County Canvassing Committee decided against granting a handcount of their ballots. The law says the County Canvassing Commission is within its rights to deny a request for a handcount. The Democrats in the County want the courts to take the discretion written into the law away from the County Canvassing Commission and require a manual recount. A judge will rule tomorrow at 10:30 am EST on the lawsuit seeking to overturn Florida law and require the Secretary of State to extend the 5pm deadline for certifying the county results. If state election law is followed, Tuesday's certification will be followed by a Saturday deadline for counting absentee ballots, and Florida would then issue a final vote count. ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page
Obviously we all know that the injunction was rejected by the federal judge. What's interesting is that in his opinion, apparently the Bush/Cheney notion that recounting in selected counties is 'unfair' is ludicrous b/c it's an inequality of their own doing (the whole slippery slope issue). They merely need to ask for the recounts and all is fine. ------------------ "Everyone I know has a big but... come on Simone, let's talk about your but."
The difference between Texas and Florida in manual recounts is that Texas has firm procedure in place for how it is to be conducted, and Florida has made up these procedures on the fly. In one of the counties they changed some of those procedures midstream. We're turning Florida upside-down. If we do that in every state, we're not going to be happy with what we find. Ultimately, I think the real casualty is the integrity of the system and the faith of the people in all of our elections from here on out. ------------------
