Press Releases

One week into America’s election limbo, the secretary of state of Florida certified George W. Bush’s fragile lead, even as thousands of disputed ballots were counted into the night at the behest of Al Gore. “When is it going to end?” asked Bush aide James A. Baker III. 

There was no answer in sight. 

Baker floated a proposal to cease the ballot-by-ballot fight for Florida’s 25 electoral votes and the White House, but Democrats said he offered nothing new — and dismissed it outright. With lawyers and judges front and center in the presidential election, nerves began to fray and adjectives failed to serve. 

“It’s like the seventh day of being held hostage,” stammered Jeb Bush, governor of Florida and the harried brother of the GOP presidential hopeful. 

Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a Republican Bush supporter, announced Tuesday night that the Texas governor had a 300-vote lead out of 6 million votes cast – with overseas absentee ballots and ongoing recount totals pending. 

Her announcement came almost three hours after a 5 p.m. vote-counting deadline, upheld earlier by state Judge Terry Lewis. He turned aside Gore’s arguments to lift the deadline, but gave Harris the authority to accept or reject follow-up manual recount totals. 

Lewis’ decision was a setback for the vice president, who wanted a clear order erasing the Tuesday deadline. His lawyers found solace in Lewis urging Harris to consider “all appropriate facts and circumstances” when recount totals are filed. 

In another blow for Gore, Democratic-leaning Miami-Dade County refused his request for a recount and a second, Broward, also was inclined to reject Gore’s request. A third jurisdiction, Volusia County, finished its recount Tuesday with gains for Gore. A fourth county, Palm Beach, begins its recounts Wednesday and Democrats hope to cut deeply into Bush’s lead there. 

Harris said she will require counties filing late recount numbers to explain in writing by 2 p.m. Wednesday why new vote totals should be accepted. “Unless I determine, in the exercise of my discretion, that these facts and circumstances ... justify an amendment to today’s official returns” the totals will stand, she said. 

Gore decided to hold off an appeal of Lewis’ ruling and press forward with recounts in four Democratic-leaning counties. Gore’s advisers hope Harris will approve the hand-counted ballots – though they expect the worst – and are prepared to appeal if she does not. 

“If the secretary of state arbitrarily refuses to accept the amended returns based on the recount and violates what this court has ruled ... which is to accept those results unless she has good reason not to, then we will be back in court,” said a new member of Gore’s massive legal team, David Boies. 

With Harris’ announcement, the battle lines were clearly drawn: Bush’s team says the manual recounts are conducted with no set standards in Democratic-leaning counties with the sole purpose of pushing Gore ahead. The vice president’s team argues that the painstaking process is the only way to ensure that every Florida voter is heard. 

The spotlight will remain on Harris as she decides whether to accept the county recounts. Another pivot point is Friday, when overseas ballots are due and counting begins. 

The race tumbled to the courts after a statewide machine recount trimmed Bush’s lead from 1,784 votes to a few hundred, prompting Gore to push for painstaking manual recounts and Bush to fight them in courts of law and public opinion. 

Officials in two counties tabulated ballots by hand Tuesday, with action in two other jurisdictions pending. 

Shoving matches and shouting fits punctuated the action inside and outside Florida’s courtrooms. Jeb Bush said things were getting “nerve-racking” throughout his state. 

“I can’t even walk around outside now,” he said at a town hall meeting 60 miles northwest of Tallahassee. 

President Clinton weighed in from Air Force One, telling AP reporters he hopes the dispute doesn’t lead to a presidency crippled by controversy. 

“I think it’s too soon to say that bitterness and partisanship will paralyze the next president,” Clinton said as he flew from Hawaii to Brunei. “We don’t know that.” 

With the razor-thin lead in ballots counted so far, Baker said presidential candidate Bush would accept the results of manual recounts collected by close of business Tuesday and the overseas absentee ballots due in Friday. Both sides would also drop their dueling lawsuits, Baker said. 

“It would give us some degree of finality,” Baker told reporters. “When is it going to end? I ask you, when is it going to end?” 

“It truly was not a proposal,” sniffed Gore campaign chairman William Daley during a visit to Capitol Hill to calm Democrats leaders. “It was strictly, in my opinion, an inaccurate description of the laws of Florida. The laws of Florida will be determined by the courts.” 

If any Democrats were jittery about the course Gore was steering for the party, they appeared to benefit from hand-holding on Tuesday by Daley. 

“The support of the caucus is solid,” said House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, even as Democrats said privately they would reassess after final overseas ballots are counted Friday. 

Bush’s team has heard some complaints from Republicans who want him to be more aggressive in courts and in the media. 

“There’s a sense of helplessness, that we’re watching an American presidential election being stolen right out from under our nose and nothing’s being done to stop it,” said Rusty Paul, former Georgia GOP chairman. 

Both Bush and Gore were lying low. Gore called for calm on Monday but declined to field reporters’ questions. Bush monitored the legal fight from his ranch in Texas for a third straight day and expected to talk to journalists Wednesday. 

The presidents-in-waiting are trying to strike a balance between their desire to be seen as prepared — and a fear that they will appear overeager. 

Gore leads in the nationwide popular vote by just 200,000 votes out of 100 million cast, but the Electoral College tally is so close that whoever takes Florida almost certainly will win the White House. Only three times in the nation’s history has a candidate won the popular vote but lost the presidential race, the last time in 1888. 

Not counting Florida, Bush carried 29 states for 246 electoral votes. Gore counted 19 states plus the District of Columbia for 262 electoral votes, with 270 needed for victory. Gore led in New Mexico but the state remained too close to call. 

Republicans have talked about challenging Gore’s victories in close-voting states other than Florida, but the tactic would be a long shot. A new poll Tuesday said voters believe the results of the recount in Florida should determine the next president. 

The Bush campaign has said for days it would accept the results of absentee ballots and those certified by Tuesday. Baker threw in the manual counts in a further effort to portray Bush as the only candidate who wanted the issue resolved quickly. 

He said Bush was taking a risk because manual counts could erode his lead. But Republicans have closely monitored the recount process and knew there was little chance that Gore could overtake the Texan by Tuesday night. 

“That’s like offering sleeves from his vest,” Christopher cracked. 

Christopher appealed to the public’s sense of fair play. 

“I see a yearning in the country for the vote to be correctly counted, and I think we’re going down that path. That’s what I see the country most interested in,” he said. 

Shortly after Harris’ announcement, Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes told a news conference that the Gore drive “cannot possibly result in a fair and accurate count of the votes.” Gore campaign chairman William Daley replied, “The Bush campaign and secretary Harris have engaged in a variety of tactics to block or slow this (re)count. Lawsuits in federal court. Unfounded orders by the secretary of state. And now this edict” requiring counties to justify recounts. 

Legal and political operatives zipped in and out of Florida courtrooms, while ballot counters plodded into the evening. With developments coming rapidly, confusion reigned: 

— The Bush camp filed a notice of appeal in Atlanta to reserve its right to challenge a federal judge who refused on Monday to block the manual counts. 

— In Volusia County, Gore cut Bush’s lead by 98 votes after officials completed a hand count of some 184,000 ballots. 

— Election authorities in Broward County decided to add four more votes to Gore — votes that turned up during a hand count of three precincts on Monday. 

— Palm Beach election officials decided to return Wednesday morning to begin hand counting the county’s 430,000 ballots. 

—The U.S. Postal Service was expediting delivery of military overseas ballots to assure they arrive in county election departments before Friday’s deadline. 

— Far to the west, Gore had a 374-vote lead in New Mexico’s seesawing race for 5 electoral votes after officials announced they had misread absentee results. 

In Florida, numerous voters have sued separately over alleged voting irregularities in Palm Beach. Celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz represents some of them, and Gore’s team is helping collect affidavits from voters with complaints. Gore has not ruled out a lawsuit challenging ballot irregularities as a last resort in his Florida fight. 

THE RECOUNT 

Courts 

• A Florida judge ruled that state officials could cut off the vote recount at 5 p.m. EST Tuesday. Circuit Judge Terry Lewis said counties may file supplemental or corrected totals after the deadline, and Secretary of State Katherine Harris may reject them if she employs “proper exercise of discretion.” Democratic officials, who have pushed for manual recounts in several counties, said they would appeal. 

• Circuit Judge John Miller ruled that Tuesday’s deadline did not apply to Broward County and its canvassing board can conduct a manual recount if it chooses. The board, which on Monday voted not to conduct a manual recount, rescinded that vote Tuesday and said it will take a wait-and-see approach. It will decide what to do after the state Supreme Court issues its election rulings. 

• A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed in Orlando, which had sought to block counties from conducting manual recounts. Three Brevard County residents who voted for Texas Gov. George W. Bush sued election officials in four counties, saying it is unconstitutional for some counties to conduct a hand count and others not to. 

Counting 

• Palm Beach County election officials decided to return at 7 a.m. EST Wednesday to begin hand counting the county’s 430,000 ballots. They will certify all their results so far, including a machine recount and numbers compiled from a hand count of four precincts. Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga lifted an injunction issued last week that prevented the county canvassing board from certifying its results. Labarga also said the board could carry out a manual recount of the votes if it wants, but that it would be up to the secretary of state to decide whether to accept any supplemental results the board provides after the deadline for doing so. The county had delayed its hand count until officials could clarify whether it had the legal authority to proceed. 

• Gore picked up six votes after officials in Miami-Dade County completed a hand recount of 5,871 ballots in three overwhelmingly Democratic precincts. The canvassing board then voted 2-1 not to hand count the rest of the county’s ballots. Democrats wanted a countywide hand count. 

• Broward County election authorities voted to add four more votes to Al Gore. These were votes that turned up during a hand count of three precincts on Monday. 

—In Volusia County, Gore cut Bush’s statewide lead by 98 votes after officials completed a hand count of some 184,000 ballots. Even though Volusia beat Harris’ deadline, county officials still filed a motion with a state appellate court that would force her to accept the figures submitted after the deadline. 

—Democrats in Osceola County withdrew their request for a manual recount. 

—The U.S. Postal Service was expediting delivery of military overseas ballots to assure they arrive in county election departments before Friday’s deadline. “We understand the urgency of this situation and realize that the entire presidential election could rest on these ballots,” spokeswoman Enola C. Rice said. 

QUOTES: 

—“When is it going to end? I ask you, when is it going to end?” — Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III in Tallahassee, representing George W. Bush. 

— “I see a yearning in the country for the vote to be correctly counted, and I think we’re going down that path. That’s what I see the country most interested in.” — Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher in Tallahassee, representing Al Gore. 

— “I can’t even walk around outside now. It’s like the seventh day of being held hostage.” — Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. 

— “If they go forward, these Democratic counties are no longer recounting, they are reinventing.” — Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes. 

— “If the secretary of state arbitrarily refuses to accept the amended returns based on the recount and violates what this court has ruled ... which is to accept those results unless she has good reason not to, then we will be back in court.” — David Boies, a member of Gore’s legal team.