Election 2004: Vote Early and OftenNovember 19, 2000
Sunday, October 24, 2004, 09:03 PM
NYT Headline: "Bush's Lead Stands at 930 After Overseas Count".
The lead:
"Gov. George W. Bush's lead in Florida more than tripled today as all absentee ballots from overseas were opened and tallied. But his campaign was unable to claim the victory it had expected, as both sides awaited a hearing on Monday in the Florida Supreme Court."
Recounts in two counties yielded small returns, with a net gain of 79 votes in Broward County for Gore, and 12 in Palm Beach County for Bush. A majority of votes in both counties remained uncounted.
"[T]he process, which Republicans have described as chaos, is going painfully slow for the peple watching it around the nation. Republicans say some volunteers are, either by accident or on purpose, dislodging the chads.
Republican monitors actually have gathered some chads off the counting room floor as evidence that the ballots are being mishandled."
While the Bush campaign called in the Governor of Montana to make some press appearances, Florida state lawmakers were also busy planning. The details:
"Ordinarily, presidential electors are chosen through the popular vote and are expected to cast their ballots for the winning candidate. But Republican leaders, who control both houses of the State Legislature, say they are examining a federal law that they believe gives them power to seat electors if the outcome of the popular vote in Florida is unclear.
...
Electors must be seated by Dec. 12. Republicans and Democrats interviewed today said they hoped the matter would be resolved long before then. But if that did not happen, Republican lawmakers said today that they could invoke the federal statute."
An editorial asked what would happen if Bush were elected: "Suppose that George W. Bush pulls it off -- that he gets to the White House on the strength of chads and butterflies. Will he make good on his boast of being a 'uniter, not a divider' ?"
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