WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.-The Florida Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today to determine whether the ongoing by-hand ballot counts in the predominately Democratic counties of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade will be included in the state's final vote tabulations.
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris (R), co-chairwoman of Texas Gov. George W. Bush's (R) Florida campaign, decided last week to disallow the hand-counted ballots and planned to certify the election Saturday pending the arrival of the state's overseas absentee ballots.
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With the overseas votes counted, Bush now leads Vice President Al Gore (D) by 930 votes in the Sunshine State, where 25 electoral votes - and the presidency - hang in the balance. But the Florida Supreme Court, which is composed of six Democrats and one Independent, ruled late Friday that the election could not be certified over the weekend.
The Court received legal briefs yesterday from lawyers representing Gore and Bush and will convene today at 2 p.m. to hear arguments on the validity of the South Florida hand recounts.
Outside the West Palm Beach government offices, where election officials continued counting votes yesterday, Republican protesters decried the fairness of the hand counting of ballots as the rhetoric between Democrats and Republicans grew increasingly bitter.
Ft. Lauderdale resident Stacey Falise, a Bush supporter who made the short trip north from Broward County to join the throngs of protesters in West Palm Beach, said the recounts are unnecessary.
"Bush has already won the election three times and now they are fraudulently trying to take it away from him," Falise said. "There's a lot of Republicans and Independents who are appalled at what's going on."
Holding a sign reading "Sore-Loserman 2000," she said the hand recounts are flawed.
"I feel that machines are more accurate because they are not partisan," she added. "It's ridiculous and it's unfair to America."
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But Charles Burton, a Palm Beach County judge and chairman of the county's vote canvassing board, said during a press conference yesterday that the hand counts were going smoothly, rejecting criticisms of the counting process.
"I'm insulted by both parties, quite honestly," Burton said. "We're working really hard. I think it's going really well and I think it's been really fair."
Despite Burton's support of the hand counts, demonstrators verbally clashed outside the government office with each side accusing the other of ignoring the will of the people and attempting to steal the presidency.
Bush supporter Yvonne Dudley, a 30-year West Palm Beach resident sporting a homemade shirt with "FloriDuh" written across the front, said voters should not have been confused by the county's "butterfly" ballot and the hand recount must stop.
"They are arguing over who got the chads pregnant and everything else," Dudley said of the ballot-punching controversy. "It's crazy."
But West Palm Beach Democrat Marta Kauffo vehemently disagreed.
Kauffo said the county's "butterfly" ballot was very confusing and that she mistakenly voted for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan instead of Gore.
Even though the vice president was the second candidate listed on the ballot, a voter needed to punch the third hole to register a vote for Gore.
"I want my vote counted," Kauffo said. "They need to permit the counting."
Burton said Palm Beach County will conclude its hand recount Wednesday. Broward County is scheduled to complete its hand recount by 5 p.m. today and Miami-Dade County is scheduled to finish counting its 653,000 ballots by Dec. 1.
In other developments, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga will issue a decision today on whether Palm Beach County residents are entitled to a revote because of the "butterfly" ballot.
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