By allowing the hand count of questionable presidential ballots, the Court has given its tacit approval to the most subjective standard of vote tabulation yet. Pimpled chads are here to stay.
When the word “chad” first entered our national lexicon, the Florida electoral bean counters had a firm standard by which to evaluate the intention of the voter: if the chad was punched out and light could be seen through the resulting hole, the vote would be counted for this candidate or that. But if the chad was not punched, if no light could be seen through the ballot and the chad remained fully attached, all bets were off. The inconclusive ballot was to be disqualified.
But no longer. In recent days at least one of the disputed, heavily Democratic Florida counties in question has changed its rules. In mid hand-count the election canvassing board suddenly decided to admit so called “pimpled chads,” or “pregnant chads.” What this means is that the hand counters can throw a vote to a given candidate based solely on a tiny bump near the candidate's name. This subjective, silly manner of vote counting is like trying to read tea leaves. Depending on who looks at the bottom of the cup, different things will be divined.
With no established, clearly articulated standard for interpreting the ballots, votes will almost certainly flow Gore’s way. Peggy Noonan dramatized the situation in her Wall Street Journal column the other day: “This ballot seems to have a mild indentation for Gore: the person who cast this vote was probably too old, and too weak to puncture the paper card. But you can see right here there’s a mark kind of thing. I think that’s a vote.” Meanwhile, the Bush dent is ignored — not that there is such a thing as a “Bush dent” or “Gore dent” because a voter can and often does change his mind mid-puncture.
But this is still a rosy scenario compared to the reality on the ground. Reports are now surfacing that polling places in Florida are littered with chad droppings — newly punched ballots — which amounts to voting fraud committed by the very people charged with insuring voting accuracy.
Numerically it is difficult to see how Mr. Gore can win Florida and this election if the landscape does not radically change. Statisticians believe Gore must find a mechanism to get those rejected ballots into play. It’s the only way he can stay in the game. The Supreme Court decision moves him in that direction. The inclusion of pimpled ballots in all four counties will almost certainly tip the balance and throw the presidency in Gore’s lap.
Standing before a white mantle — the most presidential background he could muster — the Vice President reacted to the decision with “Honest Joe” Lieberman at his side. For a second time Gore invited Bush to a meeting, extolled the wonders of hand counts, and promised that the “will of the people” was being heard. Though still some seven hundred votes shy of victory, he looked and sounded very much like a winner. His simpering grin beamed forth like that of my six year-old nephew after he'd drawn his first straight-flush.
A half-hour later former Secretary of State James Baker took to the microphones in Tallahassee to raise the specter of a legislative challenge. Charging the Court with usurping authority, Baker suggested that the (largely Republican) state legislature might appoint its own electors and in essence overrule the High Court ruling.
George W. Bush, in a press conference yesterday morning, echoed that the Florida high court “overreached” in its ruling, adding that the Gore camp wants to “keep counting” in hopes of changing the “legitimate result.” A short while later he approved an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming the Florida Supreme Court overstepping its bounds.
Every day this is looking more and more like a real constitutional crisis.
The public seems exhausted by this endless election. Thanksgiving will buy both campaigns a little more time for legal maneuvering and PR showmanship. Americans will very likely be so focused on turkey and football that they will pay only casual attention to the election Superbowl. But by the weekend, expect full-blown fatigue.
If things proceed as they have been, Mr. Gore’s hand will be on the Bible come January. The Democrats are simply better in the courtroom and on the boob tube than their challengers. They spin and win with a vehemence that puts the Republicans to shame. The Clinton administration has taught them well. Every time the Bush camp finds a winning issue, like the shelved military ballots, the Gore team increases the static. They send in Jesse Jackson, whip up a courtroom, concoct a new charge, or twist the arms of a few more judges. It is an amazing and tragic thing to behold.
The world is topsy-turvy. Who would have imagined when all this began that we would be here two weeks later witnessing Al Gore fighting for the pregnant and Bush pushing for an abortion. Given the likely outcome of this charade, it's too bad we're only talking about ballots and hand counts.
