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Florida lawmakers ponder naming electors

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (CNN) -- The Florida legislature took its first steps toward naming presidential electors Tuesday as a special committee met to discuss whether a special session would be needed to choose the state's contingent to the Electoral College.

Florida lawmakers say they have to be prepared to select the state's 25 electors by December 12 in case the disputed Florida recount remains unresolved. Lawmakers in the Republican-dominated body say they want to be sure Florida voters are represented when the Electoral College meets December 18 to choose the next president.

"We must take whatever action is necessary to do our duty to protect and defend the great state of Florida in the Electoral College," said state Rep. Johnnie Byrd, a Republican, speaking at the committee hearing.

Those electoral votes will tip the balance in the presidential race, since neither Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican nominee, nor Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic nominee, currently have a 270-vote majority in the Electoral College.

Florida officials certified Bush as the winner of the state's presidential vote Sunday by a 537-vote margin. But Gore is contesting those results in state court and the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled Friday to hear Bush's appeal of a Florida Supreme Court decision that allowed manual recounts in some counties.

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Gore announces a proposal to the court to count all disputed ballots or even all Florida votes within seven days (November 28)

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Florida Code Title IX - Laws concerning Florida Electors and Elections (Florida Legislature Web site)


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Republicans appeared prepared to go forward with a special session, but Democrats on the committee expressed skepticism.

"I certainly hope we're not here simply because the Bush campaign needs a backup plan in the event our courts indeed require every vote of Florida to be counted," Senate Minority Leader Tom Rossin said.

Rossin said Florida's certification means that barring any reversal by state courts, Florida's electors have been set.

"There is no constitutional crisis," he said. "The only way there could be is if the Florida legislature creates one for the wrong reasons. Again, we have already certified a vote. The only change could be if our courts certified the other candidate."

But John Yoo, a constitutional law expert from the University of California at Berkeley, told legislators they needed to name their own electors if they believe the process established by state law was not functioning or if the rules were altered by another branch of government.

"If you believe those rules have been changed by the state Supreme Court in this instance, you have the legal right and indeed the constitutional duty at that point to intervene," said Yoo, who is a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

The committee is scheduled to meet again Wednesday, with Clay Roberts, director of the secretary of state's Elections Division, and members of the public slated to testify. The committee could vote Wednesday afternoon on whether to recommend a special session.

A special session, if called, could open as early as Friday -- the same day the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on the Bush appeal of the Florida Supreme Court decision. The state legislature submitted a brief in that case Monday, arguing the state court ruling encroached on lawmakers' authority to choose electors.

The brief argues that political branches of government, not the courts, should determine whether a state election has "failed to make a choice" that is timely and legal.

CNN National Correspondent Mike Boettcher and CNN.com Writer Matt Smith contributed to this report.


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Tuesday, November 28, 2000

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