Absentee Ballot Rulings Favor Bush

In the Florida election battle's most high-profile side drama, the Florida Supreme Court is allowing 25,000 absentee ballots to remain in the state's official vote tally, disappointing Democrats who sought to disqualify them and give Al Gore a surprise legal victory.

In twin 6-0 rulings, the state's highest court on Tuesday upheld two state judges, who concluded the ballots should count even though local election officials let Republican activists add information to ballot applications in what Republicans themselves admitted was probably a violation of state law. The ballots came from two counties that favored George W. Bush.

Bush attorney Barry Richard welcomed the decisions concerning the ballots in Martin and Seminole counties. "It clearly ends it, no place to go from here," he said.

Edward Stafman, a lawyer for Martin County voters who sued to throw out the ballots, said his clients were disappointed "but there's some solace in the fact that they did find serious irregularities."

In announcing the rulings, state Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters emphasized "the court does not, in any sense, condone the irregularities found by the trial court."

The court said in its opinion that Seminole's elections supervisor erred by rejecting many absentee ballot applications and then compounded the problem by letting Republicans correct omissions on the forms.

Waters added that in the Martin County case, in which 10,000 absentee ballots were challenged, there were also irregularities. But they, too, did not reach "the level of fraud or intentional misconduct," he said.

The effect of the Supreme Court rulings was to validate votes which, if discarded, could have let Gore overtake Bush in the state that stands to decide the next president with its 25 electoral votes.

The court's ruling foreclosed one of the last legal avenues for Democrats.

In the Seminole County case, where more than 15,000 absentee ballots were challenged, the court said it found "competent, substantial evidence to support the trial court's conclusion that the evidence in this case does not support a finding of fraud, gross negligence or intentional wrongdoing in connection with any absentee ballots."

Justice Leander J. Shaw Jr. recused himself from both rulings. Waters did not give any reason for the recusal.

State judges, Nikki Clark and Terry Lewis, ruled Friday that "despite irregularities in the requests for absentee ballots, neither the sanctity of the ballots nor the integrity of the elections has been compromised." The elections in the two counties "reflect a full and fair expression of the will of the voters."

The rulings followed separate two-day trials, with attorneys for the epublicans arguing that voters in the Martin and Seminole cases were innocent of wrongdoing and should not have their votes thrown out.