House may nominate electors

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, NOV. 30. Amid the legal and the political battle of wits between the Bush and the Gore campaigns, there is a sideshow going on in Florida for the last few days. Miffed by the role of the Florida Supreme Court and by the legal strategies of the Vice-President, the Republican-controlled State legislature is considering naming its own slate of Presidential electors.

Hearings are on to decide whether a special session needs to be convened for the purpose in case the legal tussle involving Mr. Al Gore stretches beyond December 12. After remaining in the background for the last three weeks, the Florida Governor and brother of Mr. George Bush, Mr. Jeb Bush, came out with his thinking. ``If there is uncertainty, the legislature has clear delegated authority from the U.S. Constitution to seek the electors,'' the Florida Governor said.

A Legislative Committee will decide by Friday whether the 40 State Senators and 120 Members of the House should go to Tallahasse for a special session. A legislation is needed to draw up the legislature's slate of 25 electors and it has to be signed by Mr. Jeb Bush. In case the Governor does not act on the legislation for seven days, it automatically becomes law. Mr. Bush left few in doubt as to what his response will be. He will sign the legislation ``if it was the appropriate thing to do''.

The Republicans control the State Legislature by a 2 to 1 margin, hence the outcome is a foregone conclusion. But the idea of convening a special session has set off a heated debate with the Democrats charging that it is nothing more than a sham to elect Mr. George W Bush as the President of the United States. The Republicans in the State refer to Article Two, Section One of the American Constitution that says the legislature is responsible for coming up with the electors. The Democrats argue that the State legislature does not have the mandate to sweep aside the will of the people. Electors have already been certified, the Democrats argue, stressing that there is nothing constitutional or legal about the arguments of the GOP.

Much of what the Republicans in Florida will do depends on the success of the Gore campaign in its legal battles. If the Vice- President loses his legal challenge, the noise about the legislature intervening to choose the slate of electors will fade. But the intensity will pick up if the Florida Supreme Court orders another recount of ballots from Miami Dade and Palm Beach counties. By the same token, much of the future direction of the State Courts and the State Legislature will depend on how fast and the U.S. Supreme Court rules when it takes up Mr. Bush's position this week.

The threats of the Republicans in the Florida State legislature aside, the bigger and perhaps the real threat will come from Republicans in Congress when they get ready to certify the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2001. Hardline Republicans are bracing for a showdown and are expected to challenge the Electoral College tally if by some chance, Mr. Gore manages to get the present certification overruled. There is a hefty political price to be paid for all this at the State and at the national level. But the Republicans do not seem to be bothered about this right now.

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