From Bloomberg: Supreme Court Requires Halt to Florida Ballot Recounts

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From Bloomberg

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U.S. Supreme Court Requires Halt to Florida Ballot Recounts

By Greg Stohr

Washington, Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court required a halt to manual ballot recounts in Florida on a 5-4 vote, issuing an emergency order that shifts the momentum in the presidential election deadlock back to Texas Governor George W. Bush.

Acting on a Bush request, the justices stayed the day-old Florida Supreme Court decision that required review of tens of thousands of additional ballots. The high court scheduled arguments for Monday at 11:00 on Bush's appeal of the state court ruling.

The decision is a major setback to Vice President Al Gore, who is banking on the recounts to erase Bush's slim lead in the state that will decide the presidential race.

In an opinion that accompanied the order, Justice Antonin Scalia said Bush has a ``substantial probability of success'' in his appeal.

``The counting of votes that are of questionable legality does in my view threaten irreparable harm to (Bush), and to the country, by casting a cloud upon what he claims to be the legitimacy of his election,'' Scalia wrote.

Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for four justices in dissent, said the majority ``has acted unwisely.''

The decision stops a process that might have shown Gore ahead for the first time in the month-long legal saga.

Hand Recounts

The order came as officials around the state rushed to perform hand recounts on an estimated 65,000 ballots that failed to register in machine counts around the state. A judge last night ordered those counts to be completed by 2 p.m. tomorrow.

The plea to the nation's highest court came last night after the Florida Supreme Court required the new counts with a 4-3 ruling.

Republicans asked Justice Anthony Kennedy to stay that ruling until the court resolves the Bush campaign appeal. Kennedy, who is assigned to resolve emergency disputes out of Florida, then referred the matter to the entire nine-justice court.

The Republicans said in court papers that they will suffer ``irreparable harm'' if the recounts go forward. They pointed to a federal law that requires electors to be named by Tuesday to be assured of congressional recognition.

``Because Dec. 12 is rapidly approaching, the state court's ruling threatens to deprive the state of Florida of its proper voice in the presidential election,'' the Bush team argued.

Gore Campaign response

The Gore campaign called that ``a remarkable claim'' and urged the high court to let the recounts continue. The Bush campaign's ``surprising assertion is that a candidate for public office can be irreparably harmed by the process of discerning and tabulating the will of the voters,'' the Democrats argued.

In Atlanta, the 11th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals denied a Bush campaign request to stop the Florida recounts. However, the court said there should be no new certification of the vote count in Florida until the U.S. Supreme Court took action.

In Florida, Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis had issued a ruling close to midnight last night ordering the statewide vote recounts to begin today and conclude at 2 p.m. tomorrow. The count of some 9,000 Miami-Dade County ballots, shipped to Tallahassee last week as part of a court trial, began shortly before 10 a.m.

The Florida vote recounts have now stopped.

Republicans objected that the vote counting wasn't consistent. ``These votes have been counted under two different standards,'' said Bush spokeswoman Mindy Tucker.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), December 09, 2000

Answers

Supreme Court Stops Fla. Recount

By Anne Gearan Associated Press Writer Saturday, Dec. 9, 2000; 3:05 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON –– A divided U.S. Supreme Court stepped dramatically back into the nation's contested presidential election Saturday, halting manual recounts in Florida and setting arguments for Monday in the case.

The ruling was 5-4, and came as local election boards in scattered locations in Florida labored to carry out a state Supreme Court order for a manual recount of an estimated 45,000 ballots.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Sandra Day O'Connor voted to halt the counts. Justices John Paul Stevens, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter dissented.

The majority's order was contained in one brief paragraph. Scalia wrote an unusual accompanying statement making plain that he believes Bush had the stronger argument.

"It suffices to say that the issuance of the stay suggests that a majority of the court, while not deciding the issues presented, believe that the petitioner has a substantial probability of success," Scalia wrote.

For the dissenters, Stevens said, "To stop the counting of legal votes, the majority today departs from" the rules of judicial restraint.

Lawyers for George W. Bush and Al Gore were commanded to appear for oral arguments on Monday morning – the day before the informal deadline for appointment of the state's 25 electoral votes.

The high court issued its edict a few moments after the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta denied Bush's emergency motion to stop the recount but ordered Florida officials not to change previously certified results declaring him the winner by 537 votes.

About 50 Bush supporters outside the Leon County library shouted "Give it up Gore" and sang "Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye" when they learned of the U.S. Supreme Court decision. In Orange County, the canvassing board ordered a halt to the counting but told workers to sit tight.

© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press

-- Uncle Bob (unclb0b@aol.com), December 09, 2000.


So, is this how it ends...the Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote delaying the statewide recount so it can't be ready in time for Tuesday?

The Supreme Court has already made its decision. The court listening to arguments on Monday is for show only. There's no way the statewide recount could begin again on Monday and be ready in time for Tuesday.

What a civics lesson. As a friend of mine astutely remarked the other day, years from now school children are going to be asking, "Why didn't they just count the votes?" A statewide recount is the only way this mess could have been settled equitably.

A lead of less than 200 votes out of six million without a statewide manual recount is not the way to win the highest office in the land.

-- I want to know (who@really.won), December 09, 2000.


A statewide recount is the only way this mess could have been settled equitably.

The votes were recounted.

-- Dr. Pibb (dr.pibb@zdnetonebox.com), December 09, 2000.


Relax. Everything is OK. If the USSC doesn't affirm the constitution then those we've elected will and if not we can kick those ELECTED scoundrels out at the next election. That's how it works.

Bottom dogfight under our rules sez those whom we elect are top dogs.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), December 09, 2000.


Dr. Pibb:

I think "wants to know" probably didn't forget that the entire state was already recounted. I keep seeing this conviction that unless Gore wins, it wasn't a "real" recount. I elsewhere detailed the FIVE counts we have already had, but apparently none of them should count, because Gore didn't win any of them.

Underlying all of this, I believe, is Gore's claim that the majority of Florida voters went to the polls intending a Gore vote. This is a statement of FAITH, which must be made to come true in practice. Therefore, the Bush victories in these 5 counts (so far) are matters of *measurement*, which must not be allowed to compete with a Gore victory, which is a matter of *definition*! NOW, how can we make the measurement match the definition?

Well, we just need to keep counting by different rules in different counties, in a BIG hurry, using people of unknown qualifications, under unstated rules of vote definition, with no specified oversight or method of protesting vote determinations or adjudicating these protests, in order to determine the "intent of the voter" from ballots where no vote was cast! And the result is either "stealing" (if Bush wins) or "accurate" (if Gore wins)!

What a farce.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), December 09, 2000.



. . . .from ballots where no vote was cast!

No, from ballots which the machine couldn't read for one reason or another even though the person voted. Mighty cheeky of you, Flint, to imply election officials would knowingly try to determine intent on a virgin ballot.

The undervote ballots were altered in the machine at voting time, but not enough that they can be machine read when it's time for the machine vote count.

-- (Un@der.votes), December 09, 2000.


LOL,

Flint can get cheeky but to propose that votes are being counted instead of created is really, really cheeky.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), December 09, 2000.


US Supreme Court reverses FL recount 5-4

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=004EX3

-- (also@see.this), December 13, 2000.


Flint,

That was about as fine a synopsis about this whole mess as Iv'e heard, anywhere,kudos.

Just some random thoughts....Gores team made a horribly bad mistake by not thinking about a worst case scenario and strategize for it, following the initial statewide recount,that is if they even remotely saw(which I think they most certainly did)dragging this into court.

Think how the situation would be if Florida's legislature were controlled by democrat's,we would have a head to head battle between the Fed and the State,the USSC ruling one way and the State saying "fuck off" we'll choose who we want.

Watch for the Dem's to paint themselves as the poor pitiful victim's with Al as their martyr and Jesse as the general,and/or a running mate in 2004.

I don't agree specifically with either side of the USSC,I see the bad in both and both have their virtues,I think,as I think many do,there are two different trains of thought here (1) is to judge by the "rule of law" and (the 2cnd) is to judge by the "sense of fairness" that is one of the doctrines of democracy and justice that is instilled in us.

When these two meet loggerheads as they often do in everyday life,someone gets screwed or things don't work out just right and equitability gets thrown out the window,live with it.I don't allways like it but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

If Al was such a good leader,good ol' boy,good representative,why couldn't he even carry Tennessee? That should tell ya something.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 13, 2000.


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