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| FLORIDA RECOUNT | |
 November 29, 2000  |
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Betty Ann Bowser reports on the latest developments in Florida.
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RAY SUAREZ: Even with the U.S. Supreme Court preparing to hear arguments Friday, there seems to be more legal activity than ever continuing on in Florida. Betty Ann Bowser helps sort through the various cases. JUDGE SANDERS SAULS: It reminds me of, like, getting nibbled to death by a duck. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Reporter: That's the way Tallahassee circuit Judge Sanders Sauls summed up the myriad of law suits, legal motions, appellate pleas, and dueling arguments being considered by courts from southern Florida to the panhandle to the nation's capital. They're all aimed, in one way or another, at trying to prove through the courts that their candidate won the presidency on November 7. The Gore campaign has placed special significance on its suit before Judge Sauls. It wants thousands of ballots counted by hand, votes the Gore lawyers say would give the election to the Vice President. Gore attorney David Boies addressed the court yesterday. DAVID BOIES: We submit that the issue before the court is what is the right resolution of the contested ballots. We have contested certain ballots. We have said that certain ballots, we believe, should have been counted for Vice President Gore were not counted for Vice President Gore and we have identified what those ballots are. We believe that under Florida law, we have a right to ask for a judicial determination as to whether or not those ballots should or should not be counted for Vice President Gore. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Under Florida law, a candidate has the right to challenge the outcome of the election after the votes are certified. That certification came on Sunday when Secretary of State Katherine Harris named Governor Bush the winner by 537 votes. KATHERINE HARRIS: I here by declare Governor George W. Bush the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes for the President of the United States. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Yesterday Gore's lawyers lost round one when the judge refused to approved a fast-track schedule for deciding the issue. And Governor Bush's attorneys made it clear they are opposed to any more vote counting of any kind. BARRY RICHARD: It is absolutely inappropriate for this court and I think the court has no authority, for your honor to begin counting ballots again. I'm not sure how in the world you would do that, and there is no authority for Your Honor to appoint a special master to begin counting ballots and there is no basis for ballot counting to begin before Your Honor has determined that the relief is appropriate. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Judge Sauls has scheduled a Saturday hearing which could lead to a decision on whether or not he will allow any more ballots to be counted. Still, he ordered more than 14,000 contested ballots from two south Florida counties be moved to Tallahassee, along with a voting booth and a voting machine. This came after a lengthy discussion about logistics with Miami-Dade election official Murray Greenberg by telephone. MURRAY GREENBERG: … Get the ballot ready to be brought up to Tallahassee if that is what Your Honor ordered. It will take us tomorrow to do that. We will then need specific instruction. These ballots are under 24-hour security and have been since November 7. We would need specific instructions as to how the ballots are to be shipped, what kind of security if any, what mode of transportation, who will accept them. The statute requires that these be under the supervisor of election control unless the court orders differently. We will comply with the court's order, but there needs to be some definite guidelines before we can release the ballots, Your Honor. JUDGE SANDERS SAULS: I understand. SPOKESMAN: Thank you, Your Honor, the supervisor is here with me and he is saying it would be his recommendation that they be driven up by Miami-Dade police. JUDGE SANDERS SAULS: You'll have to go talk to the police department now I suppose. BETTY ANN BOWSER: This morning, election officials began packing the ballots for transport Tallahassee, while the Miami- Dade Police Department said its antiterrorist-trained swat team would escort the ballots under tight security tomorrow. Governor Bush's attorneys, who didn't want the 14,000 disputed ballots moved, today asked Judge Sauls to order all one million ballots cast in Miami Dade and Palm Beach counties sent to Tallahassee. And late today, the judge agreed. JUDGE SANDERS SAULS: Now, if you don't have any objection to that, basically you are willing to furnish these ballots in the same fashion and we will proceed accordingly. BETTY ANN BOWSER: One flight down in the same courthouse, a separate case was being heard today. A Democratic voter not officially part of the Gore campaign pressed his case to have 15,000 absentee ballots thrown out from Seminole County. The suit claims Republicans there fraudulently altered thousands of absentee request forms by adding voter identification numbers that hadn't been filled in. In that same case today, a group of voters asked to intervene, claiming their absentee ballots should be counted regardless of whether they were part of a fraudulent scheme. If the court should throw out all 15,000 of those absentee ballots, it would give the election to Gore. Trial is scheduled to begin on December 6. Late today, the Bush lawyers asked an appeals court to combine both of these cases under one jurisdiction. Across the street, attorneys are waiting to find out if the Florida Supreme Court will hear another case brought by a group of Democrats. They're seeking a new election in Palm Beach County claiming the so-called butterfly ballot confused thousands of voters. On another front, civil rights activists continued to complain that the rights of minority voters were suppressed in Florida. NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said his organization may take legal action. KWEISI MFUME: Everybody has to have the right and the ability to vote. If we ever do away with that, or get away with it or minimize it, I think we've done more to hurt this republic than the Civil War and any other war could have possibly done. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Meanwhile, the Bush legal team has filed suits in five Florida counties asking them to include previously rejected military absentee ballots in their vote tally. But the most high-profile case will be argued Friday before the United States Supreme Court. At issue is whether the Florida Supreme Court overstepped its bounds when it delayed the deadline for certification and allowed the hand counts to proceed. And in case the legal matters aren't resolved by December 12, the Republican-controlled Florida state legislature is considering a special session to elect its own slate of electors to the electoral college. Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Texas Governor Bush's brother, thinks that makes sense. GOV. JEB BUSH: The challenge for the legislature is that they have to project out to December 12 and determine whether there is a need for one. And so I think that is why they are planning for it, but it may not be necessary to do. So, you know, I think it's appropriate to have these hearings. I think that is a thoughtful way of going about this. The courts may decide this and clear all this up prior to December 12 in which case there may not be a need for a session. But, I mean, let's face it: If the electors are not, if there is indecision about how the electors are by December 12, I think it would be a travesty not to have electors seated in the electoral college from Florida. BETTY ANN BOWSER: A special session could be called as early as next week.
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