Florida recount decision — Ruling has right focus

SALISBURY POST

Be thankful that you’re not a Florida election official, especially in the three counties manually recounting ballots.

The Florida Supreme Court upheld the validity of their work in a decision issued last night. That’s the good news for the people who have been eying ballots, one by one, and dealing with nefarious chads. Their work will count. But the court gave them only five days to complete the task. That could well mean nonstop ballot counting from now until Monday —right through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Even then, Republicans are already formulating plans to attack the decision by the Florida Supreme Court, which they point out is dominated by Democrats. But partisans on both sides should pause for a moment to consider what the court said.

In the midst of national anxiety and intense pressures from Republican and Democratic camps, the court narrowed this controversy down to one person: the voter.

“Courts must not lose sight of the fundamental purpose of election laws,” the court held. “The laws are intended to facilitate and safeguard the right of each voter to express his or her will in the context of our representative democracy. Technical statutory requirements must not be exalted over the substance of this right.”

This is considered a victory for Vice President Al Gore and a setback for Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Every twist of this strange election has had a different partisan spin. No one is considered an impartial third party, not even the state’s highest court. Still, even though this decision also will be attacked, you can thank the Florida court for boiling the issue down to the most important issue:the right of each voter to express his or her will. That’s something no Board of Elections should casually toss aside —nor should any presidential candidate.