TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – If the U.S. Supreme Court fails to deliver a ruling on whether to continue manual ballot recounts by 10 a.m. today, the Florida Legislature will act to name a slate of electors, Florida House Speaker Tom Feeney indicated Monday.
The Legislature will hold off until after the ruling, only if instructed by the U.S. Supreme Court, he said.
The previously busy halls and chambers of the Florida Legislature went quiet for an hour and a half on Monday, as legislators listened to audiotapes of the Supreme Court session that may alter their plans to pick a slate of electors in Florida's contested presidential election.
Most state lawmakers huddled in their offices to listen to audio from the Supreme Court. One group of Republican lawmakers mugged for cameras in the Capital Grille, a popular hangout down the street from the Capitol. They gazed intently at TV screens playing the tapes while cameramen caught "atmosphere shots" for viewers back home.
"Sounds like it went well for the Bush team," said state Rep. Marc Flanagan. "I hope we'll hear something soon to clear up this mess."
Flanagan, in keeping with the spirit of the times, was eating a "Jeb Burger," a hamburger from the Grille named after Gov. Jeb Bush.
Monday, a special state House committee on the election voted 5-2 for a resolution that would name a slate of electors loyal to President-elect Bush. One Democrat, state Rep. Dwight Stansel, joined four Republicans in supporting the measure.
That committee's Senate counterpart was still debating the resolution.
Monday, both panels heard from constitutional experts debating the validity of the planned move to appoint a slate of electors.
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Lois Frankel repeated her claim that the move would jeopardize Florida's votes in the Electoral College.
"Two slates of electors will cause such confusion that Congress is likely to throw our votes out," she claimed in an impromptu news conference outside her office. "We need to get a count and a slate that every Floridian can have confidence in."
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