PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

COURT: PROVISIONAL BALLOTS CAST IN WRONG PRECINCT DON’T COUNT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – People who cast provisional ballots at the wrong precinct are not entitled to have their votes counted, the Florida Supreme Court ruled yesterday, rejecting an argument by labor unions that the rule wrongly disenfranchises voters.

In an unanimous ruling, the court said the law clearly states provisional ballots must be counted only if the person was entitled to vote “at the precinct,” and that the Constitution gives the Legislature the authority to dictate voting rules.

Under Florida law, if voters show up at a polling place but officials there have no record they are registered, they are given provisional ballots. Those ballots are held until officials determine if the voters were entitled to vote at that precinct and had not already cast ballots.

If they should have been allowed to vote at that precinct, the ballots count; if not, they are thrown out.

A group of labor unions sued over the ballot law, saying it unconstitutionally disenfranchised voters who may not know their polling place. They argued that many people have new polling places because of redistricting, may have moved, or may have been displaced by a hurricane.

The court disagreed, saying that requiring provisional voters to vote at the correct precinct is no more unreasonable than requiring that everyone else vote at the right polling place.

– Associated Press

GORE: BUSH INTENTIONALLY DECEIVED PUBLIC ON IRAQ

WASHINGTON – Vice President Gore yesterday accused President Bush of intentionally deceiving the public about the reasons for invading Iraq and said he is so ideologically driven that he refuses to admit – or even learn from – his mistakes.

“It is beyond incompetence – it is recklessness that risks the safety and security of the American people,” the former vice president said during a speech at Georgetown University.

Mr. Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2000 and loser of that bitterly contested election, complained that Mr. Bush’s refusal to budge from “a rigid, right-wing ideology” has led him to forbid any dissent and ignore warnings that may conflict with his assumptions about Iraq, tax cuts, and other policy issues.

“He is arrogantly out of touch with reality,” Mr. Gore said. “He refuses to ever admit mistakes. Which means that so long as he is our president, we are doomed to repeat them.”

The speech, sponsored by the liberal activist group MoveOn.org, was billed as Mr. Gore’s last major policy speech before the November 2 election. He delivered his remarks in strong but measured tones, avoiding the overheated passion that had marked several of his appearances earlier this year.

– Associated Press

CLINTON SAYS HER HUSBAND IS NOT CLEARED TO CAMPAIGN YET

Senator Clinton said yesterday that doctors have not yet cleared President Clinton, recovering from bypass surgery, to hit the campaign trail for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. “That is still being worked on as we speak,” the former first lady said during a Manhattan news conference about flu vaccine in the William F. Ryan Community Health Center’s Chelsea-Clinton branch. The former president has received a flu shot, she said.

Earlier yesterday, in an interview with an Albany radio station, the senator said her husband has surprised her by being a “patient patient” as he recovers from quadruple heart bypass surgery.

“He’s really doing well,” the former first lady said. “He has been a much more patient patient than I would have ever guessed. He has taken seriously all of the advice the doctors have given him.”

Mr. Clinton, 58, underwent surgery in New York City on September 6 after complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath.

– Associated Press