Fla. Electoral Vote Starts Today

The state’s defiant Republican-controlled Legislature agreed Monday to start voting today on a resolution to directly appoint electors loyal to Texas Gov. George W. Bush, setting the stage for further confusion in the postelection presidential race.

On Monday, State Rep. Dwight Stansel, a chicken farmer from northern Florida, was the sole Democrat on a House legislative committee who voted to support the controversial proposal to send a slate of 25 Bush supporters to the electoral college even if ballot recounts resume and Vice President Al Gore takes the lead.

“It was a very, very hard decision,” said Stansel, whose district voted 61% for Bush. “But sometimes you just have to do what God tells you to do.”

He and four Republicans sent the measure, a proposed concurrent resolution, to the House floor for a full vote today. A Senate committee separately passed the same measure and scheduled it for a full vote Wednesday.

On a day when all eyes were on the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican lawmakers who control the Florida Legislature again said they prefer not to get involved in the election dispute, but will act to protect Florida’s electoral votes if the presidential contest remains unresolved. Other than the votes, they set no clear deadline for action, however.

Few Americans apparently support the role the legislators have chosen. An opinion poll cited on CNN on Monday showed that only 7% of Americans feel that it is right for Florida lawmakers to make the final decision about who won the presidency.

“This is not just a hot potato, it is a radioactive hot potato,” said Tom Feeney, speaker of the House. “We’re hoping the [U.S.] Supreme Court brings finality. But if it doesn’t, our obligation is to take action.”

Democrats, who are outnumbered 77-43 in the House and 25-15 in the Senate, said the Legislature was on the road to trouble.

“I am very concerned about the step we took today,” said Tom Rossin, Senate Democratic leader from West Palm Beach. “I think it goes beyond our power and is heading toward a constitutional crisis.”

Rossin indicated that he will introduce a resolution later this week to split the state’s electoral votes--13 for Bush, 12 for Gore--saying that reflects how Floridians voted. Such a move would give Gore the White House, and Republicans are sure to dismiss it, he said.

One last option for Democrats is to sue the Legislature. Although no plans have been made public, a Democratic legal advisor said Monday that what lawmakers are doing is “clearly illegal” and that any Florida voter could make a solid case in federal court to stop them.

Both sides have cited the U.S. Constitution and various fine print of federal election code to support their positions. Republicans say that all the court contests imperil the state’s electoral votes because there’s a chance litigation will not be resolved by the time the electoral college meets Monday.

The Supreme Court hearing seemed to overshadow other affairs, as lawmakers ducked out of committee meetings to catch a few minutes of the oral arguments on TV.

Most Republican lawmakers said that if the high court rules decisively for Bush, there would be no need to directly appoint Bush delegates because the state has already certified Bush as the winner.

Still, some die-hards said that unless Gore concedes promptly, the Legislature must act.

“Let’s get serious, ladies and gentlemen,” said Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican state representative from Miami. “There are 50-plus lawsuits still out there and hundreds of lawyers here in Tallahassee. . . . The Supreme Court decision may be one thing, but this is not over yet.”

Stansel, the Democrat who broke party ranks, downplayed the action. He has supported Republicans several times before, he said, voting for measures that restrict abortion rights and allow school prayer.

“I had to examine my heart,” said the 53-year-old lawmaker. “The way the party feels didn’t really matter to me one way or the other.”

With Stansel’s nod, the House committee moved the resolution to the House floor by a vote of 5-2, with two Democrats voting no. The Senate committee voted 4-3, with three Democrats voting no.

If it passes the concurrent resolution later this week as expected, the Legislature sets the stage for a series of what-if scenarios, including a possible showdown in Congress.

If the U.S. Supreme Court allows the hand recounts to continue and Gore wins, or if the Florida Supreme Court throws out thousands of absentee ballots from Seminole and Martin counties--both distinct but longshot possibilities--then Congress will have to choose between two slates of competing delegates. Various scenarios could then happen, including the House voting for the Bush slate and the Senate voting for the Gore slate with Gore himself casting the decisive vote. Then the dispute may return to the Sunshine State, where Gov. Jeb Bush would be empowered to pick between the slate for the vice president or the one for his older brother.