Hand counts push on as high court deliberates their validity

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (CNN) -- The hand recounting of Florida's presidential votes continues today -- two weeks after the election -- as Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore await a Florida

Tuesday, November 21st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (CNN) -- The hand recounting of Florida's presidential votes continues today -- two weeks after the election -- as Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore await a Florida Supreme Court ruling on whether the recount totals should be included in the state's final tally.

Republicans told the high court the recounts should be stopped and that election results should have been certified last week. Democrats argue the hand recounts are legal and that the court should set a uniform standard for approving manually tallied ballots.

There was no word on when the Florida Supreme Court's seven justices would issue their ruling.

The partially completed recounts in three heavily Democratic counties have not given Gore enough new votes to overcome Bush's 930-vote lead in the state.

Latest developments:
â€¢ A state court hearing will be held Wednesday in Palm Beach County on a motion by Democrats. They want to force county election officials to adopt a broader standard for deciding what is a valid punch-card vote.

â€¢ A state judge in Miami-Dade County today rejected a bid by Republicans to stop the vote recount there. They had argued that the process allows vote tampering and that county election officials erred when they reversed a decision against a hand recount. Circuit Judge David Tobin said it was not his job to set standards for ballot review.

â€¢ Gore is in Washington, where aides said the vice president is working from home today. There are no public events on his schedule. Gore, who normally spends Thanksgiving in his home state of Tennessee, plans to stay in Washington for Thanksgiving.

â€¢ Bush, who is governor of Texas, traveled to the Capitol building in Austin today to conduct state business from his office there, aides said. They said his schedule for Thanksgiving is subject to change, depending on developments in Florida.

â€¢ In Miami-Dade County, 67 of the 614 precincts have been counted, giving Gore an unofficial net gain of 46 votes in the county.

â€¢ In Palm Beach County, 104 of the 531 precincts have been counted, giving Gore an unofficial net gain of 3 votes in the county.

â€¢ Election officials in Palm Beach County plan to suspend counting by 5 p.m. Wednesday in observation of Thanksgiving with no plans to resume counting until Sunday. The local canvassing board, however, will meet over the weekend to review a growing number of challenged ballots.

â€¢ In Broward County, 554 of the 609 precincts have been counted, giving Gore an unofficial net gain of 117 votes in the county. Broward hopes to complete the first part of its hand recount today. Later, election officials plan to consider absentee and "dimpled" ballots, which have been set aside.

â€¢ Republicans in Broward accuse the three-member canvassing board of bowing to political pressure from Democrats. The board, which originally decided to disqualify dimpled or one-corner chad, later reversed itself. Those ballots are now being set aside for examination and consideration as valid votes.

â€¢ Gore adviser Jack Quinn told CNN's "Larry King Live" that the Florida Supreme Court justices had been "extraordinarily well-prepared," and he said he believed they were tilting toward the Gore campaign's argument that it was important to have all the ballots counted.

â€¢ Barry Richard, the top lawyer for Bush in Florida, told the same program he could not predict what the justices would decide but expected them to "do it as rapidly as they can."

â€¢ Broward County elections supervisor Jane Carroll, 70, the only Republican on the three-member canvassing board, announced her retirement Monday, saying she could not handle the long days of recounting. Circuit Judge Robert Rosenberg, an appointee of GOP Gov. Jeb Bush, was named to the canvassing board to replace her.

â€¢ Although Democrats had challenged hundreds of overseas military ballots, Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, an ally of Gore, urged local officials to reconsider the disqualifications. A Bush spokesman called Butterworth's statement "a belated attempt at damage control." Hundreds of overseas absentee ballots mailed to Florida counties were rejected for late postmarks, postmarks from within the United States or lack of witness signatures.

â€¢ In Palm Beach County, a judge ruled Monday that he lacked authority to order a countywide revote in the election even if a confusing ballot cost Gore a decisive number of votes. Residents seeking a revote have appealed. There is no word on when -- or in what court -- that appeal will be heard.

â€¢ A Seminole County judge agreed to hear a lawsuit from a Democrat seeking to throw out all 15,000 absentee ballots cast there, most of them votes for Bush.

What's at stake
Gore narrowly leads in the nationwide popular vote and holds a slight edge over Bush in the all-important Electoral College tally. But neither candidate will reach the required 270 electoral votes to be declared the nation's 43rd president without Florida's 25 electors.

Gore's campaign hopes the full hand recounts in the three counties, where as many as 1.7 million ballots were cast, will add to his vote total.

CNN National Correspondents Mike Boettcher and Tony Clark, Correspondents Jeff Flock, Bill Hemmer, Patty Davis, Frank Buckley, Susan Candiotti, Deborah Feyerick, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report, written by CNN.com Senior Writer Jim Morris.