Vote Fight Hits the Courts

A federal court judge Monday rejected George W. Bush’s effort to block hand counting of hundreds of thousands of disputed presidential ballots. But the Florida head of elections sparked a new legal fight by setting a deadline for all votes to be tallied by the end of business today.

Attorneys for Al Gore joined county officials who rushed to court to overturn today’s 5 p.m. EST cutoff set by Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a Republican who campaigned for Bush and served as a delegate at his nominating convention in Philadelphia. If upheld, Harris’ decision could hand Florida--and thus the presidency--to the GOP nominee, who clings to a narrow lead in unofficial returns.

After hearing roughly two hours of arguments, Leon County Circuit Judge Terry P. Lewis--a Democratic appointee--said he would rule this morning on whether to block Harris from enforcing the deadline. Lewis questioned how state law could give a county an option to do a hand recount “and you don’t give them an opportunity to do it. That seems futile.”

One week after the presidential election ended in a deadlock, the fight for the White House spiraled into a series of rolling court battles and a hail of recriminations, with Bush suffering the latest setback.

Speaking in public for the first time in days, Democratic nominee Gore sought to stand apart from the increasingly bitter legal battle. Appearing in Washington, with the White House as a solemn backdrop, the vice president portrayed his efforts as a fight for the integrity of the election process.

“I would not want to win the presidency by a few votes cast in error or misinterpreted or not counted, and I don’t think Gov. Bush wants that either,” he told reporters, smiling softly throughout a brief appearance. “So having enough patience to spend the days necessary to hear exactly what the American people have said is really the most important thing.”

Bush remained secluded at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. But Karen Hughes, his campaign spokeswoman, accused Gore of trying to subvert the will of voters.

“Today, the vice president essentially said we should ignore the law, so that he can overturn the results of this election,” Hughes said in a statement to reporters outside the Governor’s Mansion in downtown Austin.

She defended Harris as an independently elected official who made “an objective decision based on the law of Florida.”

Although Gore edged Bush in the popular vote nationally and leads slightly in the electoral college, neither candidate can claim the White House without Florida’s 25 electoral votes. An unofficial canvass by the Associated Press put Bush ahead in the Sunshine State by 388 votes out of roughly 6 million cast. But an undetermined number of absentee ballots from overseas are outstanding.

Also, officials in two Democratic-leaning counties--Palm Beach and Miami-Dade--are either considering or prepared to begin hand counting hundreds of thousands of ballots to determine if any votes were missed.

Bush suffered a defeat Monday when a judge rejected his bid for a court order blocking those hand counts.

Hand-Count Ruling a Defeat for Bush

Theodore Olson, attorney for the Republican Party, insisted the hand recounts should be prevented because they are arbitrary and lack clear standards, thus inviting partisan mischief. “This manual process has introduced uncertainty and chaos” into the election, Olson asserted.

But attorney Laurence Tribe, representing Gore, said the state of Florida “has provided an elaborate framework for resolving these questions.” In seeking to stop the recount, he said, the GOP was trying “to enshrine in darkness what the will of the people was.”

Bruce Rogow, counsel for the Palm Beach County Board of Elections, described the hand recount as representing “democracy at its best, open and fair, without secrets. Is it messy? Does it go on and on?” he asked rhetorically. “Yes, it does. But that’s what democracy is about.”

After a three-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks said Palm Beach County’s recount procedures “appear to be neutral,” giving him no reason to intervene.

“The federal court has a very limited role and should not intervene unless there are clearly shown constitutional violations,” he said.

Middlebrooks, an appointee of President Clinton, seemed happy to be done with the matter. “I’m under no illusion that I’m the final word on this,” he said before the hearing even began. “In fact, I take great comfort in that.”

Separately, state officials in Tallahassee took their own steps to bring a quick end to the disputed election, saying they would certify final results today at 5 p.m., regardless of whether counties are finished tallying their vote.

Harris insisted that Florida law required the cutoff. She said the pertinent statute allows extension of the deadline, set for one week after election day, in the case of unforeseen circumstances, such as a natural disaster.

“But a close election, regardless of the identity of the candidates, is not such a circumstance,” Harris said.

Warren Christopher, Gore’s top emissary to Florida, called the decision “arbitrary and unreasonable.” He described Harris as “a longstanding supporter of Gov. Bush” and said “her statement has to be taken in that context.”

“Isn’t it a strange situation where she would exercise discretion in other situations and not when the presidency of the United States is at stake?” he said at a Tallahassee news conference after meeting with Harris.

Within the hour, attorneys for Volusia County were in court seeking to overturn the deadline. Lawyers for Bush and Gore soon joined the case.

Appearing before Circuit Judge Lewis in a packed courtroom, attorney Dexter Douglass took issue with Harris’ willingness to extend the deadline only for such disasters as hurricanes.

Judge Hears Arguments Over Recount Deadline

“The issue is, does Florida stand up for an honest vote for people in other countries to point to and say that the United States has honest elections?” Douglass demanded. He urged Lewis to resolve the case “in favor of the voters, not for the convenience of the secretary of state.”

But attorneys for Harris and Bush argued that state law requires the secretary of state to enforce the deadline. The Florida Legislature, they said, imposed the cutoff to ensure the “finality” of elections.

Once the deadline is extended, “where does it end?” asked attorney Debby Kearney.

Before taking the case under advisement overnight, the judge raised questions about how to reconcile laws that set guidelines for allowing hand counts but--at the same time--don’t necessarily give counties enough time to finish them before the seven-day deadline.

As the legal battle raged, Gore spent half the day at the White House, his first lengthy visit there since early June. He emerged at dusk and spoke to reporters in front of the portico of the West Wing.

“What is at stake is more important than who wins the presidency,” Gore said. “What is at stake is the integrity of our democracy, making sure that the will of the American people is expressed and accurately received.”

Speaking calmly, gesturing occasionally, he said a timely count is important. But it is even more important “that every vote is counted and counted accurately. That’s really what is at stake here and so that’s what I’m focused on. Not the contest, but our democracy.”

He left without responding to reporters’ shouted questions.

While Gore spoke of the impasse as a great teaching opportunity for the nation, at ground level the presidential race stayed tangled in a web of competing lawsuits and cross-juridistictional conflicts among Florida’s feuding elected officials.

Palm Beach Officials Decide to Defy Cutoff

In West Palm Beach, the three-member county canvassing board reconvened Monday morning in front of a crush of the world’s media and decided to defy Harris’ deadline.

Officials said it would take six days to perform a complete manual recount of the county’s 462,657 ballots and their results would not be ready until Sunday night.

Palm Beach officials instructed their legal team to file an injunction against the state or “take whatever action will be necessary” to ensure that the county’s election results were not disqualified.

“Exceptions to the deadline were made after Hurricane Andrew and exceptions can be made now,” said Palm Beach County Commissioner Carol Roberts, an outspoken Democrat.

But Palm Beach County Judge Charles Burton, the only one among the three-member election board to vote Sunday against a hand recount, was apprehensive. “I certainly want to go along with the board, but certainly we don’t want to disenfranchise our voters,” he said.

The county’s manual tally is set to begin this morning at 7 with a team of 50 county employees split into groups of two--one registered Democrat, one Republican.

Separately, a hearing on several lawsuits asking for a new vote in the county because of its controversial “butterfly ballot” was delayed until today after lawyers for a group of Gore supporters accused the presiding judge of bias and the judge excused himself.

Workers in Volusia County, meantime, continued their manual recount of more than 184,000 ballots cast in Daytona Beach and the surrounding area.

In Broward County, which centers on Fort Lauderdale, officials conducted a hand recount of approximately 4,000 ballots. For the sample, Gore supporters designated three overwhelmingly Democratic precincts, including one that cast a scant 19 votes for Bush.

But after Gore picked up just four votes, the county election board voted, 2 to 1, against a hand count of the nearly 600,000 ballots cast election night. Democrats say they intend to sue to overturn the decision.

Meantime, the mystery of the errant ballot boxes discovered days after the election at a hotel and a Baptist church in Miami-Dade County was solved early Monday. Election officials popped the locks and found cell phones, extension cords, pencils, erasers and little signs marked A-Z.

Gisela Salas, assistant election supervisor, said it was standard to use the boxes to store supplies after the ballots are emptied and said she would not be surprised if there were other ballot boxes out there waiting for warehouse personnel to collect them.

“It’s been a pretty crazy election time,” she said, with no small amount of understatement.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Update on Close States

While the Florida recount battle between the George W. Bush and Al Gore campaigns continues, close votes in five other states raise the possibility of recounts there. Here is a rundown:

*

IOWA

Gore’s lead: 4,949 votes

Total votes cast:

1.3 million

Status: County officials were beginning Monday to examine their vote totals before declaring the results official. The Bush campaign sent representatives to mon-itor this process and then decide whether to request a full recount.

*

Next step: The counties are expected to finish their canvassing by today. All requests for a recount must be made to a county within three days of the canvass--either Thursday or Friday. If a recount is ordered, each county would have 18 days after its canvass to complete the new tally.

*

NEW MEXICO

Bush’s lead: 4 votes

Total cast: 571,000

Status: Officials have until Friday to count 370 “in-lieu-of” ballots. These votes belong to people who requested absentee ballots but did not receive them.

In-lieu-of ballots are checked against absentee ballots and are counted only if there is not already an absentee ballot for that voter.

*

Next step: State officials will finalize the results Nov. 28, and either side would have six days to request a recount.

*

OREGON

Gore’s lead: 5,756 votes

Total cast: 1.4 million

Status: Counting of about 40,000 votes from the state’s mail-in balloting resumed Monday. A recount would be required by state law if the margin of victory falls to less than one-fifth of 1%, or about 2,800 votes.

*

Next step: If a recount is called, it is expected to be held the first week of December.

*

WISCONSIN

Gore’s lead: 6,099 votes

Total cast: 2.5 million

Status: The state Republican Party said it has received about 800 complaints of questionable polling procedures from around the state. The Bush campaign has not ruled out a recount.

*

Next step: The Bush campaign cannot request a recount until all 72 counties turn in certified vote tallies, which are due Friday. The campaign would then have three business days to request one.

*

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Bush’s lead: 7,068 votes

Total cast: 540,000

Status: A review found proofreading and computer errors, which trimmed Bush’s lead. State officials are looking to see if other mistakes were made.

*

Next step: Officials said there were no requests from the Gore campaign for a recount. The deadline for recount requests was Monday.

*

Sources: Associated Press, Times staff

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Florida’s Recount Battlegrounds

Up to four of Florida’s counties have become the battleground between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore for the U.S. presidency. Officials conducting hand recounts in Palm Beach, Volusia, Broward and possibly Miami-Dade counties have been given until today at 5 p.m. EST, subject to legal challenges, to present their results.

*

PALM BEACH: Manual recount of about 430,000 votes is scheduled to start today. Election supervisor Theresa LePore said it would take six days in 14-hour shifts from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST.

Population: 1 million Main city: West Palm Beach/Palm Beach

*

VOLUSIA: County workers Monday finished a manual recount of all but absentee votes among 184,000 presidential ballots. All local precincts had been recounted and workers are now working on about 30,000 absentee ballots.

Population: 425,600 Main city: Daytona Beach

*

BROWARD: After counting 4,000 ballots Monday in three precincts, in which Gore picked up just four votes, officials voted not to count all 600,000 ballots by hand.

Population: 1,535,000 Main city: Fort Lauderdale

*

MIAMI-DADE: Canvassing board will hold a hearing today at 9:30 a.m. EST on whether there should be a hand count of some ballots.

Population: 2,175,000 Main city: Miami

*

MORE POLITICAL COVERAGE

‘RIGHT CHOICE’--James A. Baker III’s slot on the Bush team seems a natural, although it has raised some Republican eyebrows. A19

VIEW FROM EX-INSIDERS--Veteran politicians say the public’s fascination with election might soon turn to worry, irritation. A21

MEXICAN VISIT--Villagers spruce up their town, anticipating a visit from two presidents-elect. Now, the get-together looks doubtful. A22

WHEN CANDIDATES COLLIDE--If the impasse isn’t resolved soon, the White House may need His and His parking spaces. E1

*

Times staff writers Geraldine Baum, Edwin Chen, Mark Fineman, Michael Finnegan, Faye Fiore, James Gerstenzang and Jeffrey Gettleman contributed to this story.