In a motion submitted Sunday, lawyers for Secretary of State Katherine Harris objected to the court's decision to divide the oral argument in half, allowing one hour to each side. The attorneys said Harris is not a member of either of the two "sides" and is instead a neutral arbiter required to enforce state electoral law.
Harris' attorneys offer the alternative of splitting the 120 minutes of oral argument into three 40-minute blocks, with Harris speaking last.
Democrats have already objected to the proposal, which Harris offered to the Gore camp in a letter Saturday.
On Monday the state Supreme Court will hear the case filed Saturday by Democrats arguing that Harris should be required to include the outcome of the hand counts in the state's total vote tally. Bush currently leads Gore in the state by 930 votes, and Democrats believe hand recounts will discover enough additional Democratic votes to put Gore over the top. Whoever wins Florida's 25 electoral votes will have enough to be named president when the Electoral College meets December 18.
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