response 101 of 216:

Nov 11 01:35 UTC 2000

Ditto what Scott said.

Also, the Democrats approved of a different-sized ballot that had some minor
differences.  Plus, the ballot didn't have the marking area in it yet.  This
was backed up by the person who designed it.  (All from NPR yesterday
morning).

There is a bit of a hurry since we inaugurate the new president in two
months-ish.  It would be nice to have a smooth transition, but <shrug>.  I'd
rather they get the count correct.

response 103 of 216:

Nov 11 02:25 UTC 2000

The elections commission has recertified the ballots saying they meet all
legal requirements.

We need to wait for the overseas ballots to come in.

Then we have to wait for Oregon to verify it's ballots which they say must
be done by the 27th of November, unless they have to do a recount.

now New Mexico is looking at changing it's vote totals.

Missouri is looking at challenging the election results in the city of St.
Louis because several polling locations remained open in violation of the law.

We need NOT to go into legal battles.  Thi needs to be settled shortly.

response 105 of 216:

Nov 11 02:30 UTC 2000

According to the news Election evening, St. Louis was in court fighting to
keep the polls open before the 8 p.m deadline.  They were granted an
extension.

response 107 of 216:

Nov 11 04:02 UTC 2000

The extension was overturned by an appeals court at around 8:45 pm
and the polls were to be immediately closed.

response 109 of 216:

Nov 11 04:59 UTC 2000

Its important to realize that it is not the Gore campaign, but voters
in palm beach county, who are bringing this court action.   And even
Bru wouldnt disagree that the voters, as citizens, have the right to
seek legal action if they think their votes werent legally recorded.  

Interesting note-- the electoral college must vote on December 18th, and
if a court is still reviewing the case and disallowing florida's votes to
be certified, then Florida's electors cannot vote.  The consititution does
not require the participation of all eligible electors to have a vote, only
a majority.  This is because a hundred fifty years ago,the roads were bad
and they had to account for the fact that some electors might not make it
to the vote.  Therefore an electoral vote could take place without the
participation of Florida's electors and a president elected.  And of
course without Florida's votes voting at all, Gore would win.

response 111 of 216:

Nov 11 05:23 UTC 2000

Uh, no.  From the 12th Amendment:

   The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and
   House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall
   be counted;--the person having the greatest number of votes for President,
   shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole
   number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then
   from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the
   the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives
   shall choose immediate, by ballot, the President.

So, if Florida's electors sent no votes, then NEITHER candidate would have
a majority, so the House of Representatives would choose the President.

response 113 of 216:

Nov 11 05:25 UTC 2000

You my decide for yourself if the House of Representatives would (1) vote for
the candidate with the highest popular vote count, (2) vote for the candidate
with the highest electorial vote count or, (3) vote along pary lines.  I'm
pretty sure however, that the Democrats would prefer not to find out.

response 115 of 216:

Nov 11 05:37 UTC 2000

I can hear Rane and Mary screaming already.

response 117 of 216:

Nov 11 05:39 UTC 2000

Jan, you overlooked an important word: "appointed".  If Florida's general
election is unsettled, Florida will not have appointed any electors, so
the total number of electors will have been reduced accordingly, which
reduces the number needed to obtain "a majority of the whole number of
Electors appointed."  Last *I* heard (and I've not heard a news program
in more than twelve hours) Gore had a majority of the remaining electoral
votes.

And in the House, each State gets one, and only one, vote for President.
I *think* that will reduce the effect of "party line" voting; how many
states have Representatives from only one party?

response 119 of 216:

Nov 11 05:42 UTC 2000

(many responses slipped in while I was typing resp:118)

response 121 of 216:

Nov 11 05:52 UTC 2000

January 20th, Jan.  Check out the 20th Amendment. ;)

response 123 of 216:

Nov 11 06:28 UTC 2000

Re #99: 

My mistake. It's obvious that Grex is full of people with expertise 
about everything but business and economy. A leader should and *is* 
absolutely judged substantially by how the market and economy does. The 
Nasdaq is at 3000 right now. If in four years the Nasdaq declines to 
2000, I will guarantee you that whomever is elected this year will not 
be re-elected in 2004 (and neither should he be) because the decline of 
1000 points over four years will mean our economy has gone to hell, 
people are unemployed, and maybe even our technology leadership is no 
more. BTW, if the Nasdaq were at 4000 instead of low 3000's at the 
beginning of November, Gore would have won without a recount.

The market is *extremely* efficient in the long-term but not 
necessarily in the short-term. It is due to layoffs -- in research or 
otherwise -- that the U.S. has the most efficient economy in the world 
right now. For a crappy and non-dynamic economy, check out many 
European countries that have strict laws and penalties against layoffs. 
And your assertion that Wall Street applauds cuts in research is pure 
BS. Most technology companies are judged by the percent of revenues 
they plow back into R&D -- usually the more the better.

Re #108:

The mentality taken by some Americans towards what happened in Palm 
Beach County is quite unique to the U.S. In the rest of the world, if 
you don't follow directions carefully and/or lack common sense, it's 
your problem; In the U.S., if you don't follow directions carefully 
and/or lack common sense, it's time to call your lawyer. This is the 
country where people stupid enough to spill hot coffee on their crotch, 
place a market order for an IPO, ride a bike at night, etc. call their 
lawyers and actually get compensation. The ballot was not perfect but 
it was approved by both parties. Those who screwed up their ballot were 
not careful enough and/or don't have the wherewithal to vote properly, 
and that's their problem. Again, I was hoping Gore would win, but there 
was *no* malice in Florida and that's the way the ball bounces. There 
are mistakes and imperfections in *every* election. There are no more 
imperfections in this election than in previous elections. Don't call 
the lawyers to argue ball and strike calls after the game is over. 
Modify and improve the game if you want, but the game is *over*.

We are already seeing the potentially dangerous effects of what Gore is 
trying to do. The Republicans are already hinting at recounts in other 
states where the Republicans lost very close races, and I don't blame 
them at all. Soon you might see voters in the very conservative Florida 
panhandle (in CST) who want a re-vote because they were on their way to 
the polling stations but turned back when every major network announced 
the race in Florida is over and Gore won. Maybe you'll even see 
millions of Republicans in Western states who claimed they didn't vote 
because the networks announced that Gore won Michigan, Penn, and 
Florida and that really means Bush has no hope. There is potential for 
dozens and dozens of similar after-the-fact lawsuits that will delay 
the results indefinitely. It's disgraceful and it's rightfully seen as 
disgraceful by the rest of the world. Only Americans are blind enough 
to think this process is normal.

I went to an extremely competitive high school and people frequently 
wanted specific questions regraded on exams. One of my high school 
teachers had a policy that if you wanted a question regraded on an 
exam, he will regrade *every* question on that exam and you might lose 
points as well as gain points. It was a fair and smart policy. Very few 
people wanted their entire exams regraded with greater scrutiny. In 
this case, the Democrats just want a specific question regraded. The 
Republicans will and should demand that the entire exam be regraded. 
Bush is not that stupid and Jim Baker is very smart and as hard-nosed 
as they come. The party of the trial lawyers needs to realize that the 
game is over.

BTW, if Bush wins, Nader's political career is over. Guaranteed.