The media moves in

As the press begins to recount ballots in Florida, the Republicans cry foul.

By Eric Boehlert

Dec 22, 2000 | If you thought the controversy over Florida's contested vote count was laid to rest this week with President-elect George W. Bush's bipartisan tour of Washington, think again. With media organizations lined up in Florida to review 45,000 disputed ballots, the press's unique post-election project may bedevil Bush and Republicans for weeks or even months to come.

For instance, on Tuesday the Orlando Sentinel reported that its review of invalidated ballots in nearby Lake County -- where Bush beat Gore by 15 percent -- showed that if voter intent had been the guiding principle in judging ballots, Vice President Al Gore would have picked up a net gain of 130 votes there. Bush won Florida by just 537 votes.

The county used optical scanners to count votes, so the ballot review did not hinge on questions of dimples or chads. But Republicans' reaction to the story was every bit as hostile as their reaction to the manual counting of punch card ballots, which Republicans continually said were not made to be inspected by hand.

Bush spokesman Tucker Eskew accused the Sentinel of "mischief making," "inflaming public passions" and "misleading the public" by publishing "illegal votes." Florida Gov. Jeb Bush weighed in as well, questioning the wisdom of news organizations trying to "rewrite history."

News chiefs insist they're not trying to rewrite history, but instead simply inspecting government documents. In this case, they're categorizing the types of disputed ballots -- hanging chads, clear dimples, slight dimples -- and letting readers reach their own conclusions. "We see this as a review, as opposed to a recount," says Mark Seibel, assistant managing editor for the Miami Herald, which plans to count undervotes in all 67 counties. "We're not in the ballot-counting business."

Still, the unprecedented undertaking is likely to stir passions as the slow-moving review process unfolds through the winter months.

The endeavor all comes courtesy of Florida's extraordinarily liberal "sunshine laws," which grant access to government documents and procedures. In a state where residents can sift through officials' e-mails and phone messages, as well as attend the governor's Cabinet meetings, the idea of inspecting election ballots is not that unusual. "It was natural to look at them," says Richard Shelton, president of the Florida Press Association. "It was just something that was going to be done here." (The recent suggestion by presumptive Bush appointee and New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman that the ballots be sealed for 10 years no doubt produced a few quizzical looks among Floridians accustomed to open government.)

The real question was how the 67-county review was going to be done. Attempts to pool resources and create a broad news consortium to include, among others, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post and the Orlando Sentinel have proven tricky.

Next Page: Two days, 900 ballots

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