Word: intentionalism
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...Uncertainty lingers And how, exactly, will all these ballots be scoured for votes? Any vote that shows, in the words of the court, "clear indication of the intent of the voters" shall be included. Politically, the message in this directive was clear: The Florida Justices used language approved by the Florida State Legislature. What are the practical implications of the instructions? Is there to be a set statewide standard? Nobody seems to know...
...with that charge is this: Hand recounts have been the most trusted response to close votes in this country for a century - that is, as long as machines have been around to louse things up. The law has always enshrined hand counts as a more accurate reflection of voter intent than machines...
...decision is about justice and small-"d" democracy, and not about a court with an ideological axe to grind. They must also attempt to persuade the public that manual recounts clarify rather than muddy the vote, and that they are the tried-and-true method of protecting voter intent...
...Florida legislature-derived standard for those counts - where the "intent of the voter" is evident - that is not only subjective but more stringent than the all-vote manual counts in Volusia and Broward counties that cut George W. Bush's lead in half. It has appointed the very judge it rebuffed "in part" with Friday's ruling - N. Sanders Sauls - to do the very job he couldn't bring himself to do. (Sauls immediately recused himself...
...rebuttal. In fact, precedent dictates that "reasonable probability" is the wrong standard; as long as the plaintiff proves "reasonable possibility" of a changed result, a recount must be allowed. "We have identified specific votes" that were not counted, Boies told the Justices. "There was a clear voter intent expressed on those ballots and they were not counted...