Special session of Florida legislature today

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, DEC. 7. Republican leaders have called a special session of the Florida Legislature on Friday in order to pick the State's 25 electors. Democrats have denounced the move, seen in many quarters as some kind of an insurance policy for the Texas Governor, Mr. George W. Bush.

The so-called insurance policy has to be seen in the context of at least three major events, the first being the Florida Supreme Court hearing the Vice-President, Mr. Al Gore's petition on Thursday. In spite of what Mr. Gore may say for the record, the consensus is that the State Supreme Court ruling would perhaps be the last of the legal relief he can hope for.

Secondly, the State's Republicans moved in when the 11th circuit court of appeals in Atlanta rejected the Bush campaign's petition calling for a rejection of handcounts on grounds of being unconstitutional. The judges said the Texas Governor had failed to prove he was harmed by the recounts.

Thirdly, no one is sure how two other court cases in Florida involving absentee ballots, will turn out. In the Seminole and Martin counties, the Democrats - though Mr. Gore is not technically involved - are seeking to disqualify some 24,000 votes. The Seminole County case, has been referred to as the ``sleeper case''.

The Gore campaign is naturally very pleased with the ruling of the Atlanta court, especially as it came on the eve of the critical Florida Supreme Court oral arguments. But just like the United States Supreme Court, the Atlanta court left itself enough room to return to the subject, if needed, later. ``The court does not at this time decide the merits of the plaintiffs constitutional arguments,'' the court said in its ruling today.

The dissenting judges in Atlanta pointed out that the manual recounts were unfair because they were only in selective counties; and that there had been no State-wide standards for counting the ballots. ``Even if the Republican Party or its candidate had requested manual counts in every punch-card county, the process would still have ended up treating some punch card voters differently based upon the counties in which they lived. The Constitution forbids that.''

The Bush campaign has decided to contest the decision of the 11th circuit court of appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court. This, in part, would be to steel itself for any adverse ruling by the Florida Supreme Court. ``We believe that there is an injury to a voter when his or her vote is diminished, and that requires a court to act,'' a lawyer for the Bush campaign said. The crucial aspect is time, which the Vice-President does not have on his side. And protests that the Bush campaign is running the clock out may not work.

By getting into the controversy, the Republicans in the Florida Legislature are saying they are looking out for the best interests of the State against a backdrop of a December 12 deadline for choosing the electors. ``In the event there is no final decision on December 12, I think we will have to act,'' the president of the State Senate, Mr. John McKay, said.

Democrats in the State legislature, are outnumbered by the Republicans - by a 77-43 majority in the House of Representatives and by a 25 to 15 majority in the Senate. Though the idea of a special session was first mooted by the top adviser to the Texas Governor, Mr. James Baker, Republicans in the State deny it has the handwriting of Mr. Bush.

Many are also pointing to the deadlines that are coming up in the next two weeks, the first being December 12 on the nomination of the electors. On December 18 the electors have to vote officially for the President and the Vice-President. More crucial is January 6, next year when Congress will have to certify the Electoral College vote, and it takes only one member to challenge it.

Even in the present context with the stakes being what they are, few are inclined to go along with the ``sanctity'' of the deadlines. The argument is that one or the other of the aggrieved parties can move the courts for relief.

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Section  : International
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