Justices Begin Deliberating

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —  As the nation looked on, attorneys for Al Gore and George W. Bush battled Monday before the Florida Supreme Court over whether to declare a presidential winner right away or continue counting ballots into December.

The seven-member court issued no ruling but could make a decision as early as today in the extraordinary case that may effectively decide who will be the country’s 43rd president.

Even as the court heard arguments, the hand counting of ballots commenced in a third county, Miami-Dade, and Gore continued to chip away at Bush’s 930-vote Florida lead.

By Monday night, Democratic candidate Gore had picked up 117 votes in Broward County, 46 in Miami-Dade and three in Palm Beach County. If the votes were included in Florida’s official tally, Republican Bush’s lead would shrink to 764 votes.

But Bush hoped to make gains of his own after the Florida attorney general directed election officials to reconsider the disqualification of about 1,400 overseas ballots.

Elsewhere, Democrats suffered a legal setback Monday when a Palm Beach County judge refused to order a new countywide vote to clear up confusion arising from its so-called “butterfly ballot.” Democrats immediately appealed.

But the focal point of the day’s drama was the two-hour hearing before the Florida Supreme Court, televised live around the world from the high-ceilinged, filled-to-capacity chamber in Tallahassee.

Boring down on attorneys for both sides, the chief justice and other members of the court repeatedly raised the prospect of allowing the recounts to go on for several more weeks.

Chief Justice Charles T. Wells pressed attorneys on how long Florida could wait to certify its election results without jeopardizing its standing in the electoral college, which meets Dec. 18 to select the next president.

“I’d like to sort of get this hammered down to that framework,” Wells said, asking when--not whether--any amended vote totals must be added to the state’s final certification before the electoral college deadline.

Both sides agreed the recounting would realistically have to conclude by Dec. 12, to allow time for any last-minute challenges before the state’s electors convene on Dec. 18 in Tallahassee.

Attorneys for Gore would like to complete the manual recounts, hoping the vice president can muster the votes needed to overtake Bush in Florida.

But attorneys for the Texas governor insisted that Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris has the authority to immediately certify the results, noting certification was due Nov. 14, one week after the election.

The justices seemed most concerned, however, about finding a process in which all votes are counted and where all votes are weighted equally--both those counted by machine and those being retallied by hand.

They also wondered about the hand tallying of votes solely in Democratic-leaning counties and asked whether a manual recount of the entire state could, or should, be conducted.

“How do you think a statewide recount would impact on the whole idea of getting these things done before Dec. 12?” asked Justice Peggy A. Quince. “And aren’t we just adding another layer if we order a statewide recount?”

“You could be,” answered David Boies, a Gore attorney. However, since recounts are underway in three of the state’s most populous counties, “it would be practical to do those [statewide] recounts if the court felt it to be desirable.”

Sides Weigh Further Actions

Justice Barbara J. Pariente asked Bush attorney Michael A. Carvin whether the GOP nominee would not want a statewide recount to boost his vote numbers, particularly if Gore pulls ahead.

“No, your honor,” Carvin replied. “I think we should follow the process that’s set out in the statute.”

While awaiting the court’s ruling, both sides were mulling their options for further challenges if the decision goes against them. Among them: Republicans have been gathering information that more than 1,000 Florida residents are simultaneously registered to vote in New York, which could lead to legal challenges to those ballots; Gore advisors have collected evidence that several hundred Floridians also are registered to vote in Alabama.

On Monday, Republicans prevailed in a political skirmish over absentee votes cast abroad.

State Atty. Gen. Bob Butterworth, following cues from the Gore campaign, directed election officials statewide to review the decision to reject more than 1,400 overseas ballots--a move that might have prevented Bush from building an even bigger lead.

Butterworth noted that many counties disqualified overseas ballots for lack of a postmark, when both state and federal laws say such ballots should be counted so long as they are signed and received no later than 10 days after the election.

“No man or woman in military service to this nation should have his or her vote rejected solely due to the absence of a postmark,” said Butterworth, a Democrat and co-chairman of Gore’s Florida campaign.

But officials in several counties said Monday that they already had followed the standard that Butterworth recommended, suggesting little likely gain for Bush. Bush’s lead surged last week from 300 votes to 930, thanks to a nearly 2-1 edge among overseas absentee voters.

Nationally, Gore continues to lead Bush in the popular vote, but neither candidate can claim the White House without Florida’s 25 electoral votes.

As the impasse dragged on, some Democrats on Monday expressed limits to their patience. While the party establishment continues to rally behind the vice president, one political operative close to the Democratic leadership in Congress said Gore needs to show progress on at least one of two fronts.

“If Gore loses the Supreme Court ruling, or wins [but] then loses the hand count, I think there’s not going to be a lot of patience left for further appeals,” said the Democratic strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing Gore and his team.

In contrast, Republicans were discussing plans to persist even if the legal or vote-counting tide turns against Bush. Florida state Rep. Tom Feeney, a Republican who will be sworn in today as state House Speaker, said in an interview that the GOP-run Legislature might step in to appoint Florida’s electors if the dispute is not settled by Dec. 12--a move that would hand the state to Bush. As a legal fallback, attorneys for the GOP candidate asked the federal appeals court in Atlanta to set a hearing Monday on Bush’s bid to end the hand counting on constitutional grounds. A federal judge in Miami rejected the request and the appeals court last week refused to intervene.

But the key action Monday took place in the courts and the ballot-counting rooms across South Florida.

In Seminole County, a judge agreed to proceed with a lawsuit seeking to disqualify about 15,000 absentee ballots because of allegations some were improperly filled out by GOP volunteers. Circuit Judge Debra Nelson set a hearing next Monday to allow both sides a week to gather evidence in the case, brought by Democrats. Bush carried the county in east-central Florida in part because he won 10,006 absentee votes to Gore’s 5,209.

In a separate case in West Palm Beach, Judge Jorge Labarga dashed the hopes of some Democrats by declining to order a new countywide election. Gore backers had filed suit seeking to overturn the Nov. 7 results because some claimed Palm Beach County’s confusing “butterfly ballot” caused them to mistakenly vote for the Reform Party’s Pat Buchanan instead of for Gore.

But after hearing testimony last week, Labarga ruled Monday that ordering a new presidential election was beyond his authority. Labarga said there was “no case law authority in the history of our nation . . . where a revote or new election was permitted in a presidential race.”

Democrats immediately appealed the ruling to the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach.

Across town, a manual recount of the county’s 462,000 votes proceeded through a fifth day, with Gore gaining just three votes after 20% of the county’s 531 precincts were counted.

But another 276 potential Gore votes have been set aside--along with 73 Bush ballots--pending a court decision on the criteria to be used for counting contested ballots.

Gore’s lagging numbers underscored the importance of the county’s standard for deciding which ballots are valid.

In the early phase of recounting, the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board had been throwing out all “dimpled” ballots--those that were merely indented, not punctured. But after a judge ordered more careful scrutiny, canvassers began considering acceptance of “dimpled” ballots.

Even so, most have been tossed out, said Charles Burton, a Palm Beach County judge who is chairman of the canvassing board. In most cases, he said, it has been impossible to tell whether the dimples represent a vote, a mistake or a change of heart.

The three counties conducting manual recounts are applying different criteria, making the already complicated process even more convoluted.

In Broward County, election workers were nearing completion of their manual recount of about 550,000 ballots cast in the Fort Lauderdale area.

In Miami-Dade County, the hand recount of about 654,000 ballots began Monday morning.

As the count got underway, about 200 pro-Bush demonstrators marched outside the county government center, waving signs for the television cameras and chanting, “No more Gore.”

Candidates Keep a Low Profile

The candidates themselves stood apart from the squabbling, limiting their public exposure and their political remarks.

Gore spoke via satellite to the ninth annual Family Re-Union, a Nashville conference sponsored by the vice president and his wife, Tipper.

Although he spent most of his time discussing domestic life, Gore jokingly referred to the day’s political events. “I appreciate this chance to speak to the Florida Supreme Court,” he deadpanned as he opened his remarks.

Bush was in Austin, Texas, working at his Capitol office and, like Gore, ignoring reporters’ questions. Asked his thoughts about the Florida situation, Bush told reporters, “Good to see you.” Later, the governor watched a portion of the Florida hearing on television.

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Times staff writers Eric Bailey, Ronald Brownstein, Mike Clary, Faye Fiore, Jeffrey Gettleman, James Gerstenzang and Scott Gold contributed to this story.

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The 3 Recounts at a Glance

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Total ballots Precincts Florida Counties to be recounted completed Net Gains Broward 588,000 544 of 609 Gore +117 Miami-Dade 654,000 64 of 611 Gore +46 Palm Beach 462,000 104 of 531 Gore +3

Florida Counties Expected completion Broward today Miami-Dade Dec. 1 Palm Beach Monday

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