Glenda Hood has
certified the Florida results today(11/14)
According to Florida Election Law we have 10 days for one of our losing candidates to sue for a recount.
(2) Such contestant shall file a complaint, together with the fees prescribed in chapter 28, with the clerk of the circuit court within 10 days after midnight of the date the last county canvassing board empowered to canvass the returns certifies the results of the election being contested.
The Cobb/Badnarik campaigns have expressed a willingness to demand a recount in FL if they recieve the funds. The question facing us NOW is do we want to buy it. I think Kerry has made it clear we have to buy our own recounts.
FL recount impact my opinion
- Flip FL? Unlikely our vote deficit in FL makes OH look like a dead tie.
- Find fraud? Maybe the Bush campaign definately has motive, opportunity, and a cover story. Motive and opportunity speak for themselves. Dixiecrats could provide a cover story for padding totals to steal FL outright or pad its total enough to discourage recounts. Data analysis suggests a fraud check in FL might be suffiecient if focused only on the Optiscan counties(assuming FL recount law allows targetted recounts). Is it possible a discovery of fraud here could flip FL to Kerry? Thanks to paper ballots the potential is real. However if your only objective is to flip the election I would suggest FL is a very bad place to spend money.
- Verify election results? Yes The same data analysis that called into question the dixiecrat counties also indicated the no trail counties weren't tampered with. A recount in FL either over all or of just the Optiscan counties should verify FL results.
Conclusion: I do not feel FL is a good investment if looked at only as a potential to flip the election. However many questions have been raised about the results in FL in particular Optiscan counties. For those interested in verifying our elections a recount would be a good investment.
However unlike the political capital Bush is burning we are very limited and can't spend into the red. If this election has stretched us thin enough FL might be out of reach, regardless of the answers it may hold. If the support is there I am willing to plunk down money to get answers in FL. Either way Glenda Hood is trying to shut us out. If we want in we need to move fast.
Note: Thanks to Cedwyn and NonEmptySubset for posts alerting me to the situation and containing the links I stole.