The Bush campaign had alleged that the hand counts only in heavily
Democrat counties violated federal civil rights law and the 14th
Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law.
Doug Hattaway, a spokesman for Vice President Al Gore's campaign, said the
Gore camp was very happy with the decision.
"It clears the path of the Florida Supreme Court to go forward with the
manual recounts we are requesting," Hattaway said.
But Bush attorney Ben Ginsberg said the Bush team was not worried by the defeat. He
pointed out that the court "expressly said that it was not ruling at this
time on the merits of our constitutional arguments."
The state high court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Thursday on an
appeal of a decision by Circuit Judge N. Sanders Sauls denying the
Democrats' request for further recounts.
The full 12-member federal appeals court issued the ruling Wednesday in
two cases involving decisions last month by federal judges in Miami and
Orlando, who denied requests for preliminary injunctions to immediately stop
manual recounts.
One case was brought by Bush. The other was filed by three Bush supporters
from Brevard County, Fla. The cases are separate from other lawsuits
being considered in Florida courts.
The court said it turned down the appeal because the Bush lawyers were not
able to show there would be "irreparable injury" as a result.
"Because plaintiffs have not shown irreparable injury, let alone that the
district court clearly abused its discretion in finding no irreparable
injury, the denial of the preliminary injunction must be affirmed on that
basis alone," the appeals court said.
The appeals court avoided ruling on Bush's constitutional claims.
During the hearing Tuesday Judge Rosemary Barkett, a former Florida chief
justice, asked Bush attorney Theodore Olson to show how Bush had been irreparably harmed, since he has been certified the winner in
Florida. Olson said the outcome of Florida's election could still change
pending other court decisions.
Another judge pointed out to Olson that the certified results included
hand recounts from other counties. Attorney Teresa Roseborough, representing
the Florida Democrat Party, said Florida has used manual recounts 25 times
during the past six years.
Olson said the recounts in this year's presidential election were
inconsistent, unfair and unconstitutional because they involved "changing
standards and changing rules" and because they treated "different citizens
in a different way."
The lawsuits challenged manual recounts that took place in Democrat-ruled Broward,
Volusia, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. The recounts in Broward and
Volusia counties were completed, but Miami-Dade stopped its recount, and Palm
Beach missed a deadline for completion.
Roseborough said individual county election boards "have the authority to
conduct a manual recount" if it could affect an election outcome.
Copyright 2000 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
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