It was just a matter of time . . .
The five urged Attorney General Janet Reno to ask the Justice Department to launch an investigation into the decision to halt the manual recount in Miami-Dade . . .
Democratic Politicians Seek Miami-Dade Count Probe
By David Lawsky
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - Five Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives called on Friday for a federal investigation into Miami-Dade County's abrupt decision two days ago to halt its manual recount of votes, saying Republican George W. Bush campaign may have orchestrated a ``climate of fear'' to intimidate the board.
The five urged Attorney General Janet Reno to ask the Justice Department to launch an investigation into the decision to halt the manual recount in Miami-Dade, one of three Florida counties that had been conducting such a recount of votes cast in the still-unresolved U.S. presidential election.
Like Broward and Palm Beach counties, Miami-Dade was faced with a Sunday deadline set by the Florida Supreme Court to report results from the hand count, which could tilt the balance in Democrat Al Gore favor as he chases down Bush's 930-vote lead after a machine recount of the state's 6 million votes, cast on Nov 7.
The decision by the Miami election panel on Wednesday was taken after Republican protests inside the county building over plans to continue the recount. Gore's campaign unsuccessfully asked the Florida Supreme Court to get the Miami recount started again, and has said it will contest the Miami-Dade result.
``According to many published reports, unruly and violent protesters managed to create a climate of fear and intimidation, with the intent of preventing the canvassing board from completing its task,'' the letter to Reno said.
``In addition, published reports strongly suggest these actions were orchestrated by the Bush campaign,'' it said.
The letter from the Democratic politicians said that if the actions occurred as reported, ``they could amount to voter intimidation in violation of federal law.... By preventing the canvassing board from completing its recount, these actions undermined the right to vote.''
It was signed by Democratic Reps. Peter Deutsch and Carrie Meek of Florida, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas and William Jefferson of Louisiana. It was also signed by Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting delegate from Washington, D.C.
The letter was made available to reporters in West Palm Beach, county seat of Palm Beach County, by a representative of the national Democratic Party, outside the building where a recount of that county's 460,000 votes was underway.
Broward was also completing its recount of some 588,000 votes.
Gore's campaign, pursuing Bush's razor-thin lead in the state both candidates must win to capture the White House, sought manual recounts of some 1.7 million votes in the three Democratic-leaning counties. Republicans opposed them, saying the recounts were unfair, and the issue quickly became entangled in a thicket of court action on both sides.
Bush senior adviser Ari Fleischer, responding to Democratic criticism of the protests and charges that they were orchestrated by Republicans, called the demonstrations ``a heartfelt and natural reaction to what is going on.''
