WASHINGTON (UPI) – The Justice Department told United Press
International Wednesday evening that it would review Democrat allegations of
missing ballot boxes in Florida.
(The last time Attorney General Janet Reno's department intervened in Florida, 6-year-old refugee Elian Gonzalez found himself seized at gunpoint and doomed to a life in Fidel Castro's Cuba.)
The major presidential candidates are waiting on a recount of
Tuesday's votes in Florida to determine the presidency. Depending on how
the recount goes, either Texas Gov. George W. Bush or Vice President Al Gore
will garner more than the 270 votes in the Electoral College necessary to be
elected, unless court challenges slow the process.
Democrats have charged that numerous irregularities in Florida voting cost
Gore thousands of votes. Bush held less than an 1,800-vote lead on the first
count.
Among the allegations by national and state Democrats are that some ballot
boxes in Florida have turned up missing.
"We will take a look at each specific allegation to review it
for violations of federal law," a Justice Department official close to the
process said.
Democrats have also complained about what they contend is a misleading
ballot in Palm Beach County, one that supposedly might have caused several thousand
Florida voters to cast their ballots for Reform Party nominee Patrick
Buchanan instead of Gore. But the official said the Justice Department was
unlikely to become involved in that controversy.
The allegedly confusing ballots "are an administrative issue, not a
federal crime, so it will be handled at the local and state level," the
official said.
The official added that the department would have no role in the recount
itself.
Reno is expected to receive a number of questions
from reporters on the Florida allegations during her weekly news conference,
scheduled for this morning.
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