Court arguments readied as presidential vote count continues

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman said Sunday that Florida vote-counters should ``take another look'' at military absentee ballots that were thrown out on narrow technicalities.

Sunday, November 19th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman said Sunday that Florida vote-counters should ``take another look'' at military absentee ballots that were thrown out on narrow technicalities.

County canvassers disqualified 1,527 ballots from overseas, many because they lacked the required postmark. But Lieberman said vote counters should ``give the benefit of the doubt'' to ballots coming in from military personnel generally.

``If they have the capacity, I'd urge them to go back and take another look,'' he said on NBC's ``Meet the Press.''

George W. Bush gained 1,380 votes to Al Gore's 750 from a count of the overseas absentee ballots, but supporters of the Texas governor complained that Democrats were trying to disqualify military ballots because they were more likely to favor the GOP.

``They knew those votes primarily were Bush votes,'' said Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., on ABC's ``This Week.''

Defense Secretary William Cohen, the only Republican in the Cabinet, also expressed concern over the large number of disqualified ballots.

``The last thing we want to do is make it harder for those wearing our uniform and serving overseas to be able to cast a ballot,'' he said Sunday in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Miami-Dade County began a mechanical sorting of 654,000 punch-card ballots after a judge rejected a Republican request to keep the ballots out of a machine.

Moments before the sorting was to begin Sunday morning, Judge Margarita Esquiroz rejected the request by Bush supporters to stop the process.

Hand recounting of ballots in two other heavily Democratic counties _ Broward and Palm Beach _ also resumed Sunday. In Broward, with 274 of 609 precincts counted, Gore had gained 85 votes.

In Palm Beach, the county judge overseeing the process pleaded with the counters and observers for civility after a fracas broke out when a counter accidentally put a ballot in the wrong pile.

``You would have thought she'd killed 14 people,'' said Judge Charles Burton, a Democrat and chairman of the county canvassing board.

Lieberman, who made the round of the Sunday morning talk shows, said Republicans opposed a recount out of fear that Bush's statewide lead of 930 votes would evaporate.

``I wouldn't say that they are trying to steal the election, but it does seem to me very clearly that they are doing everything they can to stop the recounting of votes because they're slightly ahead, and they fear after the recounting they won't be,'' Lieberman said on CBS's ``Face the Nation.''

Bush and his wife Laura went to church Sunday in Austin, Texas; Gore was in Washington.

No matter who wins the election, President Clinton said the American people may benefit by the closeness of the race.

``It might be sobering for the country to realize that we are in a completely new era,'' Clinton said in a CNN interview. ``It is still clear that about two-thirds of the people want a dynamic center that pulls the people together and moves us forward.''

At the same time, lawyers for Gore and Bush prepared for a Florida Supreme Court hearing Monday on whether recounted votes must be considered when the state's all-important 25 electoral votes are allotted, anointing the nation's 43rd president.

In a unanimous ruling Friday, the justices stopped Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a Republican and Bush supporter, from disallowing the hand recounts and certifying Bush the winner, pending further notice from the court.

Democrats plan to ask the Supreme Court to establish a standard under which all three counties would approve or disapprove ballots. They say Palm Beach County officials are imposing a strict standard that has cost Gore scores of votes.

In one precinct, Gore picked up 11 votes in a sample recount conducted more than a week ago. When the same precinct was counted Saturday, Gore had lost 11 votes from the first recount.

In addition to the appeals in Florida, both campaigns also have pending cases in federal courts that aim to affect the outcome.

Republicans say Democrats are conducting a flawed recount; Democrats charge the GOP with forcing interminable delays.

The unprecedented election aftermath has left Bush and Gore dangling and the nation without a president-elect 12 days after the votes were cast. Neither man emerged from Election Day with enough Electoral College votes to claim victory. Without Florida, Gore has 267 and Bush 246, with 270 needed to win.

That made Florida, where Bush's brother Jeb is governor and where Gore and Lieberman campaigned energetically, the decisive state.

Gore continued to lead in the nationwide popular vote by about 215,000 votes out of the more than 100 million cast.