The Hindu : International : Rivals brace for legal challenges

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Wednesday, Nov 03, 2004

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International

Rivals brace for legal challenges

By Oliver Burkeman

MIAMI, NOV. 2. Teams of Democratic and Republican lawyers were poised to start launching legal challenges in Florida and elsewhere from the moment the polls opened today, without waiting until the close of voting to start disputing procedures at individual polling stations.

Legal experts on standby

The Democrats, convinced that more vigorous challenges might have swung the result in 2000, claim to have 10,000 lawyers on standby around the country, ready to be deployed wherever the need arises.

They reputedly have 1,000 in Florida alone, including Janet Reno, Bill Clinton's former Atorney-General.

As several analysts noted yesterday, there seemed little chance that so much legal firepower would be willing to spend today doing nothing - especially if, as expected, thousands of voters are challenged by party poll workers.

Florida's network of emergency judges could hear cases within 15 minutes of a request being made, prompting cross-county dashes by lawyers as they race to represent their side in court.

Democrats may also argue that Republican challenges constitute interference with the election by causing long delays, even if they do not necessarily lead to legitimate voters being turned away.

``One of the effects is simply that it will consume time - and if the line is long, well, how long would you wait in the heat?'' said Terry Anderson, a leading law professor at the University of Miami.

``In minority districts, even if they aren't successful in their challenges, they may be successful in driving voters away.''

The biggest showdown, if it happens, will come after the result, providing that the outcome falls into the so-called ``margin of litigation'', the point at which a victory is narrow enough for challenging it to become politically feasible.

Quibbling over ballots

Already yesterday, there were foreshadowing of disputes to come.

In central Miami, lawyers for both sides were quibbling over absentee ballots that had been returned early, although Eric Buermann, one of the leading Republican attorneys, insisted his side were being ``compassionate challengers'' when dealing, for example, with shaky signatures by elderly voters.

Lawyers have also been clashing in Palm Beach County, where the validity of a small number of absentee ballots - 44, as of yesterday morning - were being disputed either by Democrats or Republicans. - © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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