the latest republican attempt to stop an accurate count

[Jim Hanson]

the secretary of state noted correctly that:

"If the returns are not received by the
time specified, such returns may be ignored and the results on file at that
time may be certified by the department." Section 102.111, Florida Statutes,
is explicitly mandatory.

the operative word is MAY and since the hand counts cannot be completed in
that time, it is obvious that the secretary of state should permit their
certification to occur later.

the secretary's use of the "it is mandatory" is clearly an attempt to
confuse people. yes, it is mandatory that they follow the law which states
the returns may be ignored.

so, now we go to court again.

this move on the part of this republican supporter of jeb bush is so
patently partisan, it is just stunning. if people want to talk about jeb
bush manufacturing a vote for george bush, they have it now.

i pray that the florida courts will stop this unbelievable act obstructing a
fair and legal recount of the votes.

i mean, how is a district with large numbers of people ever supposed to do a
hand recount as required by law? it is not possible if the state decides to
say "no, we won't accept your legally required hand count because there is a
deadline that we MAY enforce."

jim hanson :)
whitman college

 -----Original Message-----
From: Jdgriswold at aol.com [mailto:Jdgriswold at aol.com]
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2000 2:01 PM
To: hansonjb at whitman.edu; edebate at ndtceda.com
Subject: Re: the latest republican attempt to stop an accurate count


  hand recounts shall be done if getting such count effects the outcome of
the
  election. that is the law in florida.
        sure, counts can be done in other counties and yes, the democrats
are
  vigorously defending their candidate. if the dems say no to hand counts in
  other districts in florida, then i disagree with them.
        as alan keyes quite emphatically said on fox news last night, let
the
  law handle this--not the candidates.

  jim hanson
  whitman college

  Well, I'm not sure the Democrats have to take that position as the 72 hour
  period for request has evidently expired or is in such a position that a
  recount could not be conducted before certification requirements. This
  relates to a statement you had made in previous post that I address below
  regarding the Secretary of State and the law regarding certification in
the
  state of Florida.

  the republican secretary of state is now making it clear that she will not
  accept certified results after 5pm tuesday even though she knows that hand
  counts cannot possibly occur by that time.

  translation: another attempt to stop an accurate count.....

  there is NO reason to stop the hand counts other than the republicans know
  that when the accurate counts are done, al gore will win. even george will
  admitted that today.

  You are probably right that hand counts in the four selected counties will
  yield a net gain that will overcome Bush's lead. However, it appears that
  Florida Law is very precise on this issue and this was what the Sec. of
State
  was stating:

  "Section 102.112 of the Florida Statutes provides that the county
canvassing
  board must certify the county returns by 5 PM on the 7th day following the
  general election. The performance of this duty is mandatory; there are no
  exceptions provided in the law. In fact, a $200 a day personal fine is
  imposed on members of the county canvassing board for failing to meet this
  deadline."

  Now, I'm sure that the Democrats are willing to pay that fine for the
  canvassing board :). But I do not know, absent challenges to the very law
  itself, if the time frame can actually be moved. More from Florida Law and
  the Sec. of State:

  "...Section 102.112, Florida Statutes, which deals with the duties of the
  county canvassing board, provides, "If the returns are not received by the
  time specified, such returns may be ignored and the results on file at
that
  time may be certified by the department." Section 102.111, Florida
Statutes,
  is explicitly mandatory. It provides, "If the county returns are not
received
  by the department by 5 PM on the 7th day following an election, all
missing
  counties shall be ignored, and the results on file shall be certified."

  Anyway, would like to hear your thoughts on that. I can see the Democratic
  party firing up the old "will of the people" and "intent" arguments to
object
  to this law. Seems that either way this is going to court and I'm just not
  sure that is in the best interests here as it can and perhaps will
snowball
  to not only other counties inside the state of Florida but perhaps
counties
  in other states that have had questions. Like I said, this is not uncommon
at
  all. Cook County, Duval County, etc, etc. I can bet you there are
widespread
  irregularities in every state. It happens all the time.

  Speaking of which, when I voted out here in California, we did it
  electronically - almost like an ATM system. Slide the card in, select your
  choices by touching the choices on the screen (Not sure what its called),
out
  pops the card and you are done. No errors with chads and isn't all that
  confusing, although I will never be sold on the confusion argument in Palm
  Beach. Anyway, seems like a good system.

  Jeff Griswold
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