Florida court rejects Gore demand

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, NOV. 29. The battle for the U.S. presidency entered the fourth week with both the Texas Governor, Mr. George W. Bush, and the Vice-President, Mr. Al Gore, filing briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Gore tuned up his public relations pitch for the second day and called for the full tabulation of votes in Florida under a new seven-day timetable, but, a Circuit Court judge in Tallahassee refused to oblige.

The Vice-President reiterated his demand that all votes in Florida be counted and criticised the Bush team for running the clock out. Opinion polls taken since the State certification have not been good news for the Vice-President, who, however, said the surveys did not matter.

In his brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Bush urged a stamp of finality - ``lawful, final and conclusive'' - saying failure to do so would risk a major constitutional crisis. ``Perhaps the most significant consequence of the court's ruling for the petitioner would be to clarify the governing federal law standards and thereby forestall an impending constitutional crisis,'' Mr. Bush's lawyers argued.

The Gore team, apart from saying that the opposition's charges are groundless or ``insubstantial'', has pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court should not even be involved. ``Principles of federalism counsel strongly against interference by this court,'' lawyers for Mr. Gore have said. The Gore campaign also feels that the U.S. Supreme Court may decide on its own to stop the case.

The apex court, scheduled to hear oral arguments from both sides on Friday, is to rule on whether the Florida Supreme Court improperly extended the November 14 State deadline for manual counts and in the process violated the Constitution and the federal law. The Bush team has said that the groundrules for counting changed after November 14 by taking into account the so- called dimpled ballots in one county.

Both at the federal and at State levels, the courts are being reminded that Florida's legislators are getting ready to intervene. Analysts say that if the courts hand the Vice- President a victory and the State legislature favours the Texas Governor, it will be upto Congress to sort out who gets the 25 electoral college votes on January 6 next year.

Meanwhile, Judicial Watch, a conservative law firm involved in litigation against the Clinton administration, has won access to the thousands of contested presidential ballots in the Palm Beach county, creating an additional complication for the Gore campaign. The Democrats objected saying the ballots in question were evidence in their case. But, Judicial Watch threatened legal action and managed to have its way.

Pointing out that it was time to ``wrap this up'' and that ``common sense'' did not allow for another recount, the Bush camp made it clear on Tuesday that it was ready to defend itself in State courts. A team of lawyers quickly went to work in Florida thwarting attempts by the Democrats to speed up the court process. A Circuit Court judge scheduled a hearing on Saturday to determine whether some 13,000 ballots in two Democratic counties should be re-counted and ordered the ballots to be transported to Tallahassee.

Both the Bush and Gore campaigns are keeping an eye on the opinion polls. The Democrats, particularly the lawmakers who have thrown their weight behind Mr. Gore, are worried that if the legal battle stretches on the American public's patience will not hold. Already there are signs of this. But the pressure is not just on the Vice-President - a good many Americans also believe that Mr. Bush ``jumped the gun'' in proclaiming victory and starting the transition process.

That has not stopped the Texas Governor from going ahead with his plans. For, this is one of the strategies drawn up by his advisers to put additional pressure on the Vice-President.

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