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Bush Decides to Appeal to US Supreme Court
US Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush on Wednesday authorized his lawyers to appeal to the US Supreme Court to stop the ongoing hand recounts of ballots in Florida.
The Texas governor made the decision after meetings with his staff and lawyers. Republican officials said the appeal was expected to be lodged later on Wednesday.
Florida's Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Tuesday evening to include the hand recounts results of three South Florida counties into the state's final tally and ordered state election officials to accept amended vote recounts as late as Sunday or Monday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Bush accused the Florida Supreme Court of using the bench to rewrite election law by allowing recounts in Palm Beach, Maimi-Dade and Broward counties to continue.
In another development, Bush also went to court in Florida on Wednesday, seeking to force 13 counties to count hundreds of previously disqualified overseas ballots, most filed by the military.
He joined the Florida Republican Party in filing a complaint in state court in the state capital of Tallahassee, seeking a declaration that these overseas military ballot are valid.
The overseas military ballots "should be counted even if they bear an illegible or smudged postmark, a late postmark or US postmark, or lack a handwritten date," he argued.
More than 1,500 overseas absentee ballots were rejected by Florida elections officials because of lack of postmarks or other problems.
Florida Court Ruling Unacceptable, Bush Campaign Says
Texas Governor George W. Bush's campaign said Tuesday that a ruling by Florida's Supreme Court on the validity of hand recounts in the presidential elections in the state is "unfair and unacceptable" and it will consider "whatever remedies" to correct the court decision.
In a statement released in the Florida capital of Tallahassee, Bush's legal adviser and former US Secretary of State James Baker said that justices of Florida Supreme Court "have in effect rewritten the electoral laws" in a manner that "clearly overreaches" their judicial power.
Gore Welcomes Court's Ruling
US Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore Tuesday night welcomed the Florida Supreme Court's ruling that hand-recounted ballots can be accepted by the state for another six days in the US presidential election.
In a brief statement, Gore said that he and Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush must both focus on transition to power while awaiting tally.
Florida Court Rules State Must Accept Amended Returns
Florida's Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Tuesday that state election officials must accept amended vote recounts as late as Sunday or Monday, a spokesman for the court announced.
"In dealing with similar conflicts in the past, the court has consistently held that the right of people to cast their vote is the paramount concern overriding all others," court spokesman Craig Waters said in a brief statement in Tallahassee, Florida.
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