Ehrlich on Washington column, December 4, 2000

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Lutherville, Maryland 2 1 093 Washington, D.C. 205 1 5 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of December 4, 2000 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Rules of the Game Next Week: Election Reform Measures that Make Sense Like any contest, a U.S. election has rules. This system of checks and balances works whether the election is a landslide or a photo finish. Each voter has one vote to be cast at or by a specific time and place. Those votes are tallied and reported. A winner is announced. The same principle applies in sports. Last year, at the end of the Super Bowl, when the Tennessee Titan’s wide receiver finished the game three feet short of the goal line with his final lunge, the receiver was judged down, the clock expired and the game over. According to football’s well established rules, the Rams won, the Titans lost. Football rules also take into consideration close or potentially inaccurate calls. The rules allow referees to use instant replay to examine these calls. Similarly, our election system has established and tested rules directing the course of action if elections are close. Every state has its rules for how to handle recounts. In some states the recounts last hours, in others they last days. In all states, as in all football games, however, the contest must end. America finally reached that end last week when Florida’s Secretary of State enforced the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling and certified the state’s recounted results. Previously, we had a recount of all the Florida votes, then a complete recount of all those votes and then a selective manual recount of some of those votes — all of which determined more Floridians voted for Governor George W. Bush than Vice President A1 Gore. Regrettably, the Gore campaign filed a lawsuit contesting the certified election results in Florida. Its aim is to overturn the outcome of the election after 19 days of counts and recounts. Of the manual recount, Vice President Gore had promised: “I will abide by the result. I will take no legal action to contest the result.” Unfortunately, Gore backpedaled on his statement when he did not like the results of the recount he promised not to contest. He is proposing to make up yet another set of rules - another count and yet another deadline.