Chaos Reigns as Florida Count Continues

The Florida presidential tally turned even more chaotic yesterday, as a series of court rulings and reversals left both camps unsure how much longer the counting will go on.

Tyler Professor of Constitutional Law Laurence H. Tribe '62, who is leading the Democratic effort to keep manual recounts going in three counties, said in an interview last night that there were still five or six legal battles underway in the state, adding "the ultimate outcome will depend on Florida law."

Katherine Harris, Florida's secretary of state, set a deadline of 2 p.m. today for several Florida counties to explain why they were continuing to count votes by hand. A ruling in state court yesterday gave Harris--who served as Bush's Florida campaign co-chair--the discretion to decide whether any further votes should be tallied.

Harris said last night that the current tally had Bush in the lead by exactly 300 votes.

Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz, who is representing Palm Beach county residents, last night called Harris "a Republican operative" and accused the Bush forces of trying to stage "a coup." Asked which side seemed to have the momentum, Dershowitz said "I think Bush is outsleazing Gore."

Florida governor Jeb Bush countered that Harris was "doing the right thing."

The centerpiece of yesterday's legal action came in state court, where judge Terry P. Lewis upheld the 5 p.m. deadline that Harris had announced for certifying all votes. That decision seemed to be a victory for the Bush forces, who are trying to end all recounts, but in his decision Lewis also said Harris should exercise discretion, leaving a small window of hope for the Gore forces.

Jenny Backus, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, countered: "With three counties left to complete hand counts, the outcome of this election is very much in play. We need a full, fair and accurate count to go forward, and we're hopeful the secretary of state heeds the guidance and directives of today's court decision, and does not act in an arbitrary manner."

Unless further appeals change the situation, the election's outcome may be decided by Harris. "Unless I determine in the exercise of my discretion that these facts and circumstances contained within these written statements justify an amendment to today's officials returns, the state elections canvassing commission, in a manner consistent with its usual and normal practice, will certify the statewide results reported to this office today," Harris said last night.

Those results showed Gore continuing to narrow the ever-shrinking gap between the two candidates. Shortly before the 5 p.m. deadline, the Democratic stronghold of Volusia County finished its manual recount, awarding Gore a net gain of 98 votes. After a day of uncertainty caused by conflicting legal opinions, Palm Beach officials finally agreed to begin a full recount today, though whether the votes will be officially certified may be up to Harris. Miami-Dade County officials, after a sample recounting of one percent of the vote, decided not to hold a further recount.

Dershowitz, reached last night in Palm Beach, said he had no doubt that a complete manual recount would give Florida to Gore, and with it the presidency, which hinges on the Sunshine State's 25 electoral votes.

"If it were a complete manual recount, Gore would win with 10,000 votes," he said. "The majority of Americans voted for Gore."

Dershowitz added that experts from both parties knew that manual recounts were more accurate than machine returns subject to mechanical inaccuracies.

"Every expert will tell you that machine counts have a five percent margin of error," Dershowitz said.

He added that Tribe argued Gore's case in state court "brilliantly."

"I wish it had been televised," Dershowitz said. "It would show that litigation can be orderly and expeditious."

Tribe declined to predict how the legal issues would eventually be resolved, but added that "the deadline for everyone is December," when the Electoral College will formally decide the winner of the election.

Meanwhile, distinguished scholars and policy practitioners at the ARCO Forum discussed the long-term ramifications of the election deadlock on the nation.

Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press Thomas Patterson said that although the hotly-contested, controversial election has induced much disillusionment with American politics, effects will wear off by the next election in 2004.

"I think other conditions will matter more for the election in 2004," Patterson said. "I think the question is: Where will America's mind be in the 2004 campaign?"

Frederick Schauer, academic dean and Stanton professor at Kennedy School of Government, said courts may continue to intercede in presidential elections which are supposed to reflect the will of the people.

"We are in an era in which judges may go outside the technicalities of the law," Schauer said.

Anna Greenberg, assistant professor of Public Policy at the Kennedy School, said ill-conceived polls led much of the media to misjudge Bush as clearly the front-runner going into the election.

"When you're only going to poll the most likely of voters, you're going to have Republican bias," Greenberg said. "The presumption going into the election was that Bush won the election."

She added that overt and widespread one-upmanship among media networks only exacerbates the problem of misinformation, encouraging journalists to sacrifice integrity for speed.

"There are only two polls that got it right," Greenberg said. "Every single network is based on the same information and they're all in competition with each other."