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Recounts only in selected states Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.floridatoday.com/news/election2000/stories/2000/nov/elec111600b.htmhttp://www.floridatoday.com/news/election2000/stories/2000/nov/elec111600b.htm
Nov. 16, 2000
Brevardians appeal recount suit
By John Tuohy
FLORIDA TODAY
Three Brevard County citizens are appealing a lawsuit they brought in federal court to stop election recounts in four Florida counties.
The citizens, who all voted for Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president, allege that the recounts are unconstitutional because they are arbitrary.
The citizens asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta to reverse a decision by a federal judge in Orlando.
"The Florida recount law is fundamentally unfair and violates federal constitutional guarantees of one person-one vote and equal protections under the law," said James Bopp, general counsel for the conservative James Madison Center for Free Speech, in Washington, D.C., which is representing the citizens.
The lawsuit, Touchston vs. McDermott et al., names canvassing board members in Palm Beach, Volusia, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, as well as election officials in Tallahassee, as defendants. The suit was brought by Robert and Diana Touchston of Palm Bay and Deborah Shepperd, a resident of Brevard County. None of the plaintiffs could be reached for comment.
The suit alleges that the recounts are unfair because only selected counties are conducting them, only one candidate requested them, and each county has a different method of counting ballots.
U.S. District Judge John Antoon, in rejecting the request for a temporary injunction against the recounts Tuesday, said election disputes are to be handled by state, not federal, courts, except in rare cases.
The citizens "have not alleged that the Florida law is discriminatory, that citizens are being deprived of their right to vote or that there has been fraudulent interference with the vote," Antoon wrote.
The suit is similar to one that Bush filed in Miami on Monday. That case was dismissed by District Court Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks. Antoon said he agreed with Middlebrook's opinion.
He said the plaintiffs in this suit failed to show that irreparable harm would be caused by the recount or that stopping the recount would not hurt the public interest.
The Touchstons and Shepperd also failed to provide any facts about how the recounts are being conducted, Antoon said. Heidi Meyer, an assistant to Bopp, said the defendants have until 7 a.m. today to respond to the suit.
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