ADVANTAGE DIPS BELOW 300 VOTES

'An injustice unparalleled in our history' in Florida sends Democrats to the courts as the Bush camp considers recounts in two other tightly contested states; turmoil rules

The Associated Press Sherly Lanier of West Palm Beach wants those "fuzzy numbers" cleared up, pronto. The situation is now a legal and political tangle.

Chris Hammon of Palm Beach, Fla., knows where he stands.

Gore wants re-recount in 4 counties, maybe a limited revote

George W. Bush's lead over Al Gore in all-or-nothing Florida slipped beneath 300 votes in a suspense-filled recount yesterday.

Meanwhile, Democrats threw the presidential election to the courts claiming "an injustice unparalleled in our history," and the Bush campaign was considering recounts in two other close-voting states.

Chaos reigned. It may take weeks to untangle the thickening legal and political webs and determine the nation's 43rd president.

"The presidential election is . . . on hold," said James A. Baker III, the secretary of state in the Bush administration brought in to protect the Texas governor's interests.

Gore wants a follow-up recount in four Florida counties and perhaps a new election in the Palm Beach area - ideas the Bush camp said amounted to "politicizing and distorting" the electoral system.

An unofficial tally by The Associated Press showed that Gore had cut Bush's lead to 229 votes with 66 of 67 counties recounted. Nearly 6 million votes were cast in the state.

The official total lagged behind, and Secretary of State Katherine Harris said it could be as late as Tuesday - a week after the election - before the state certifies ballot results from all 67 counties.

She said it may take until Nov. 17 to tabulate ballots cast by Floridians living overseas.

Amid a campaign-style flurry of charges and countercharges, Gore campaign chief William Daley said his party will support legal actions by voters and

National vote count Gore 49,113,600 Bush 48,906,647 According to The Associated Press

supporters who say a confusing ballot may have led them to vote accidentally for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan.

"We're raising some very serious questions, and legal actions will be taken," Daley said at a Florida session with Warren Christopher, the former secretary of state acting as Gore's recount adviser.

The Bush campaign fired back by staking its own claim to a Florida victory and questioning Gore's motives. Still, Republicans eyed recounts elsewhere in case Gore prevails in Florida, raising the specter of a lengthy, multistate battle.

"One of the options that they seem to be looking at is new elections. Our democratic process calls for a vote on Election Day. It does not call for us to continue voting until someone likes the outcome," Don Evans, Bush campaign chairman said in Austin, Texas.

Both sides dispatched dozens of lawyers and political operatives to Florida and geared up fund-raising drives to finance what is exploding into a post-campaign recount campaign.

As the drama unfolded in Florida, Attorney General Janet Reno said in Washington that she saw no reason for federal authorities to "jump in." The former Miami prosecutor said she would review any complaints brought to her. "We are not here to generate controversy," she said.

There was already plenty of that.

"Nobody ever said that democracy was simple or efficient," said Election Board member Bob Crawford.

The winner of Florida stands to gain the state's 25 electoral votes - and the keys to the Oval Office, unless Bush's team makes good on a threat to contest Gore victories in Iowa and Wisconsin, among others.

With votes still dribbling in from across the country, Gore's lead in the popular vote was shrinking to about 200,000 votes out of 100 million. With a few precincts still unreported (as of 6 p.m. Tucson time):

* Gore had 49,113,600 votes.

* Bush had 48,906,647 votes.

It is the tightest election since 1960, when John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon by 118,574 votes. Though it has no bearing on who the next president will be, the total-vote lead gives Gore added psychological standing in his fight to overturn Florida's results.

Republicans and Democrats alike said the Florida vote challenge poses incredible risk for both candidates, because an evenly divided electorate will soon tire of the political suspense and begin looking for somebody to blame.

"This is serious stuff; it's time to cool partisan passions or risk being damaged goods, even if you win the presidency," said Democratic consultant Jim Duffy.

In competing news conferences yesterday, the strategies jelled: Bush's camp portrayed Gore as a poor loser who wants to overturn Election Night returns that gave Bush the edge in Florida; Gore's camp accused Republicans of selfishly ignoring ballot irregularities and attempting to scare Americans with talk of a constitutional crisis.

Christopher and Baker met yesterday in what was described by Democrats as an uneventful session.

Eight lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts to challenge the Florida results, including six in Palm Beach County and two in Tallahassee. One of the federal cases was withdrawn by the voter who filed.

The Tallahassee cases alleged race discrimination, and Palm Beach County voters sought a new election because they said the ballot was too confusing. Thousands of ballots were not counted because they were punched twice. Democrats say Gore backers voted for Buchanan - then voted for Gore after realizing their mistake.

Bush aides said Palm Beach county is home to 17,000 voters allied with the Reform Party, and thousands of Palm Beach County ballots were invalidated in 1996.

In Florida, Daley said Democrats would seek a more thorough second recount of ballots cast in Palm Beach, Dade, Broward and Volusia counties - 1.78 million votes, many of them Democratic.

He said the Bush campaign was willing to "blithely dismiss the disenfranchisement of thousands of Floridians as being the usual mistakes" that afflict elections.

"I would assume that the courts will take a serious look at what may be an injustice unparalleled in our history," Daley told CBS.

Both candidates were working simultaneously to prepare their transitions to power and fight the ballot dispute. Democrats were trying to raise $3 million to finance Gore's challenge, while Republicans geared up their own fund-raising drive.

The Bush campaign conducted conference calls with allies across the country to rally the troops, but instead heard a slew of complaints.

GOP governors, in particular, warned that Bush's camp was losing the public relations battle to Gore and needed to send more political and media operatives to Florida, said sources involved in one of the calls. The Bush campaign said aides were being sent and promised to be more aggressive.

Nearly 48 hours after the polls closed, Bush had won 29 states for 246 electoral votes. Gore had 18 states plus the District of Columbia for 255. New Mexico and Oregon were too close to call.

Hedging their bets, Bush officials were scrutinizing close-vote states other than Florida and pondering whether to press for recounts. High on the list were Iowa and Wisconsin, with a combined 18 electoral votes. A recount was under way in New Mexico's most populous county, too. And Oregon law requires a recount in close races.

Bush and Gore laid low, leaving their advisers to compete in news conferences.

The waiting game

Associated Press photos In stressful times, Vice President Al Gore finds time to go out jogging with family members in Nashville, Tenn. From left are his daughter Kristen; brother-in-law, Frank Hunger; and daughter Karenna Gore Schiff. Meanwhile, Dick Cheney and Gov. George W. Bush display an air of confidence as they meet with campaign adviser Andrew Card, who was secretary of transportation under President George Bush.

Pima has had ballot gremlins, too

'Still waiting for the perfect election'

Sarah Prall / Staff Frances Grijalva counts absentee ballots. It's an arduous process that makes local voting officials happy they're not having Florida's problems - this time.

By Joe Salkowski and Joe Burchell
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Florida may be leading the nation in high-profile election problems, but it certainly didn't invent them.

Some of Pima County's past elections have been beset by the same sort of snafus revealed during Florida's recount of presidential votes.

Local voters have been turned away from the polls on Election Day and have seen their votes assigned to the wrong candidate or vanish from the rolls altogether. One year, as many as 28,000 voters may have mistakenly backed a third-party presidential candidate because of a misleading ballot layout - an occurrence echoed this year in Palm Beach County, Fla.

Even elections that proceed relatively smoothly, like this year's, rarely end without a controversy or two.

"Every election official is still waiting for the perfect election," said Mitch Etter, Pima County elections director.

This year, for example, Diahn Swartz and her husband were denied their right to vote when a poll worker refused to accept their early ballots from a friend who had agreed to drop them off. The worker told their friend that the couple needed to take their ballots downtown to the Recorder's Office, but Etter said that instruction was wrong.

"It was very frustrating," Swartz said. "I really wanted to vote, but I wasn't able to."

Another voter, Olivia Long-acre, said she saw two people turned away from a North Side polling place because poll workers ran out of the forms that must accompany ballots that will be verified by hand. "I couldn't believe they were telling people they couldn't vote," Longacre said.

If these people lived in Florida, they probably would have been interviewed live on CNN by now. As it is, their stories will fade into an recurring history of bungled ballots and occasionally questionable counts in Pima County.

In 1972, a confusing ballot layout was blamed for the 28,000 votes cast for the Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate. A number of voters apparently misread instructions and voted twice for president - once for one of three more prominent candidates and again for a slate of six Socialist electors.

This year, officials in heavily Democratic Palm Beach County, Fla., threw out 19,120 ballots before they were counted because they contained votes for more than one presidential candidate.

In 1972, though, Arizona officials decided to let those double votes stand because they didn't affect the outcome of the race.

Besides, a recount would have cost taxpayers up to $10,000, noted then-Pima County Attorney Rose Silver. "There would have been nothing to gain," she said.

In 1980, county elections officials failed to print enough ballots to accommodate an unexpectedly large turnout. Some polling places ran out of ballots, forcing poll workers to turn away an estimated 1,600 voters.

Of particular concern was the impact those ballots might have had on an extremely tight race between Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater and businessman Bill Schulz in what turned out to be Goldwater's last campaign.

A Superior Court judge ordered the county to reopen one polling place two days after the election to accommodate those who were turned away.

In 1994, a computer glitch was blamed for erasing 826 general election ballots in one Oro Valley precinct from the county's final vote count. Although elections officials still had the actual ballots, the error wasn't discovered until after the deadline for counting them had passed.

County officials said they didn't believe the outcome of any race was changed by the problem because none was that close.

Still, the Arizona Daily Star's discovery of the flub prompted a county audit of the entire election. Mistakes it turned up prompted County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez to begin her push to replace the county's punch-card ballot system - similar to the one still used in Florida - with a newer, optical-scan bubble- ballot system.

In the 1996 primary elections, another computer error caused some votes for Republican supervisor candidate Ann Holden to be credited to opponent Vicki Cox Golder, and vice versa. County officials had split five large precincts into two polling places to avoid overcrowding, but the computers weren't programmed to keep up with the change.

That year, Rodriguez acted on her own and acquired an optical-scan bubble-ballot system for early voting. The system had no significant problems.

The Board of Supervisors bought what amounted to an upgraded punch-card system for Election Day use. But that was the last year the county would use punch-card ballots.

In 1997, more than 8,300 votes in the Tucson City Council race between Republican Fred Ronstadt and Democrat Alison Hughes were originally left uncounted because of defective punch-card ballots.

The city spent five days recounting the ballots by hand, but Ronstadt's victory - pronounced by the news media before the ballot problems were discovered - was not affected.

Etter said the new bubble ballots make his job easier. But some still arrive at election offices with coffee stains, tears or other defects that force workers to count them by hand. And even the best ballots cannot overcome occasional mistakes made by poll workers, who work long days at a job that occurs too infrequently to master.

"You don't get a dress rehearsal with elections," he said. "You can't say, 'OK, let's just try this again tomorrow.' "

* Contact the reporters at 573-4240 or e-mail: joes@azstarnet.com or burchell@azstarnet.com

Many Ariz. votes uncounted; early voting partly responsible

By Joe Salkowski
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

If we were in Florida's position and the nation were waiting for Arizona's votes to name a president, the TV networks would be camped here until at least next week.

State officials are still counting an estimated 167,000 ballots that weren't included in results released on Election Day.

Many of those ballots were cast early and either dropped off at polling places Tuesday or delivered by mail that day. The rest must be verified by hand to address a number of routine problems. Some were filled out Tuesday by people who already had requested an absentee ballot, for example, while others were cast by people voting at the wrong polling place.

County recorders must finish processing those ballots by Wednesday, and elections officials must complete their count before the votes are certified by state and local officials. That must happen by Nov. 22, 15 days after the election.

The bulk of outstanding ballots are in Maricopa County, where officials still had 116,000 left to count as of yesterday morning. Pima County officials are still counting 18,000 to 19,000 ballots.

It's not unusual for the official results of state elections to remain unknown for days after the last vote is cast as officials resolve routine problems. But changes to the state's absentee voting rules have led to dramatic increases in the number of early voters, leaving more ballots for officials to process when they arrive at the last minute.

A few tight races could be affected by those outstanding ballots, including the contest between Republican Edward Poelstra and Democrat Demitri Downing for the second of two state House seats in District 14. Poelstra led Downing by 138 votes in results released Tuesday

Buchanan: Some votes are Gore's

Associated Press photos Democratic Florida state Rep. Irving Slosberg shows the crowd a copy of the controversial ballot at the county elections office.

Beth Wallace of Lake Worth, Fla., displays a sample ballot. "There's certainly something weird going on in Palm Beach County," said Greg Adams, an assistant professor of statistics.

Says he likely received some meant for the vice president

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan said yesterday that he probably received some votes in Palm Beach County, Fla., that were not intended for him.

"I do not feel well about that," he told NBC's "Today" show. "I don't want to take any votes that do not belong to me."

He said "ineptitude" in the ballot design may have caused some people to vote for him when they meant to choose Al Gore.

The ballot, used only in this one Florida county, had punch holes in the middle and names of candidates on both sides. Gore's name was second on the left side, but voters had to punch the third hole. Buchanan's name was first on the right side, but voters had to punch the second hole. Arrows pointed to the correct holes, however.

A statistician from Carnegie Mellon University calculated that Buchanan should have received 600 to 800 votes - not the 3,407 election results show.

Greg Adams, an assistant professor of statistics and research methods, compared Buchanan's Palm Beach County total with his votes in Florida's other 66 counties in relation to Gore's and George W. Bush's votes.

"We set out to answer whether Buchanan got a statistically unusual number of votes (in Palm Beach County) compared to the rest of Florida," he said.

The conclusion: "There's certainly something weird going on in Palm Beach County. Our guess is, it's this funky ballot."

The 3,407 votes are "really, really screwy," Adams said. "I didn't expect to find dramatic results like this. I thought it would be much more subtle."

In another development, The Palm Beach Post reported that 19,120 ballots - 4.1 percent of the total - were disqualified Tuesday because voters marked more than one presidential candidate. Only 1.7 percent of ballots were rejected for that reason in Broward County and only 2.7 percent in Miami-Dade. Those counties listed presidential candidates on a single page.

About another 10,000 ballots were thrown out because they had no names punched at all.

"I feel so stupid that I voted for the wrong person," Helen Halperin, 81, said.

"I was being very meticulous. I was concerned about the layout of the ballot, so I asked one of the polling officials."

Halperin said the harried election worker pointed to the second punch hole. She said he told her to ignore the arrow indicating that supporters of Vice President Gore should punch the third hole.

His advice made sense, in a way, since Gore's was the second name on the ballot.

"I told him that it looked to me like the arrows indicated that was a vote for Buchanan," Halperin said. "He was getting frustrated with me and told me, 'If you want Gore, you have to push the one in the middle.'

Hundreds of Democrats took to the streets of West Palm Beach at midday yesterday to protest the election. "We Want a Re-vote" read several of the banner signs demonstrators waved for television cameras. It soon became their chant after Republicans staged a counterdemonstration.

"Florida has been turned into a circus," conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said. "Now the Democrats are complaining that the arrows are confusing. The arrows are the least confusing thing about the ballot. The arrows are the salvation of the ballot."

Civil-rights advocate Jesse Jackson arrived in the area at midday to offer his views.

"There was a wreck in West Palm," Jackson said. "This ballot is deceptive. If we remain disciplined and dedicated, we will win because we voted."

CPA Chris Gryskiewicz, 35, held up a sign contrary to many of those gathered: "Go Home Cry Babies."

Probe asks if TV's bad calls curbed voting

Where the media went wrong

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - A House telecommunications panel launched an investigation yesterday into what led news organizations to prematurely call Democrat Al Gore the winner in Florida and whether that depressed voter turnout elsewhere in the country.

The panel's chairman, Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin of Louisiana, told reporters that the call for Gore, which was reversed a few hours later, happened before all polls in Florida had closed and may have deterred Republican voters in states where polls were open much later.

Tauzin said that calling Florida for Gore "may have sent a signal out to Americans that this election was being decided in a way that was not accurate. When they're being told by the networks that it's already over, that's akin to disenfranchising them."

Between 7:49 p.m. and 8 p.m. EST Tuesday, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox, ABC and The Associated Press all called Florida, with its decisive 25 electoral votes, for Gore. Polls were still open in western Florida, which is in the central time zone, as well as in most states in the West.

At about 9:55 p.m. EST, the networks and the AP began taking back those projections based on the actual Florida vote count that showed a tight race between Gore and Republican George W. Bush.

Early Wednesday, the TV networks called Florida for Bush and declared him winner of the presidential election, then had to back down on that projection as well. The AP did not declare an election winner. A recount is under way to determine the actual winner.

Tauzin said he is sending a letter to the heads of the TV networks and the AP asking a series of questions about how the projections are made. Although Congress returns for a lame-duck session on the budget next week, Tauzin said hearings would probably not take place until next year.

Central to the probe, he said, is the role of the Voter News Service, a consortium of the networks and the AP that uses voter exit polls and actual results to help make election projections. Other news organizations subscribe to the service's data.

Tauzin said a depressed voter turnout in the West may have had an impact on the House races in California that Republicans lost and on the national popular presidential vote that went for Gore.

Under a 1985 agreement, the networks have usually held off using voter exit polls to call elections until most polls are closed in a given state. Tauzin said the investigation may determine that "a new agreement" on use of the data is necessary, but he said there would be no effort to restrict its use.

While officials at the TV networks said they had not received the letter, several said they were already looking into how the Florida projections went awry.

"We are conducting a top-to-bottom review of our election night projections to establish exactly what happened," said ABC News spokesman Jeff Schneider. "We will take whatever steps necessary to ensure this doesn't happen again."

NBC News spokesman Barbara Levin said the network is "very concerned . . . and believes the Florida call warrants a careful examination. We will work to get to the bottom of it."

GOP may ask recount in Iowa

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DES MOINES, Iowa - State Republican Party officials are exploring the possibility of requesting a voter recount after Al Gore's razor-thin victory in Iowa.

"If we think a recount, in regards to numbers or in regards to aberrations that come to our attention, that a recount would likely affect the outcome, then we would make that recommendation," said Kayne Robinson, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa.

George W. Bush campaign officials said they were looking at the possibility of a recount in Iowa, as well as in another closely contested state, Wisconsin.

To ask for a recount, Bush would have to write personally to each of Iowa's 99 county auditors by 5 p.m. next Thursday or Friday, depending on the county.

"Any candidate who receives votes - it can't be just anyone, for sure - has to request a recount in writing, by requesting it to each county auditor," state Elections Director Sandy Steinbach said yesterday.

Gov. Tom Vilsack said Gore's victory margin was significant and he didn't think the recount would be necessary.

"In absence of some kind of real question about the way ballots have been handled in an area that might tip the scales, I just don't think there's much there," Vilsack said.

Robinson said the party would examine canvassing results before deciding whether to advise the Bush campaign to formally request a recount.

With all Iowa precincts counted, Gore led 635,026 to 630,077 - a mere 4,949 votes.

Three additional close state races could be affected

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

In addition to Florida and Iowa, three other states may see their presidential votes end with recounts.

* In New Mexico, election officials in Bernalillo County, the most populous county that includes Albuquerque, were counting absentee and early-voting ballots that could not be tallied on election night because of a technical problem.

With about 37,000 early ballots remaining to be counted, Democrat Al Gore had 269,773 votes, or 48 percent, and Republican George W. Bush had 262,948, or 47 percent. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader had 20,226 votes, or 4 percent.

* In Oregon, a recount may also be required by a state law if the margin between Bush and Gore was less than one-fifth of 1 percent, or just under 3,000 votes. With about 80,000 more votes to be counted, many in Republican-leaning areas, Gore led Bush by about 2,100 votes.

* In Wisconsin, where Bush lost by about 6,000 votes, there is no automatic recount. But a candidate may request a recount.

The Bush campaign said it is looking at that possibility.

White House defends Clinton's limited role

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - Amid the fracas over whether Al Gore or George W. Bush will be the next president, White House officials defended Gore's decision to limit President Clinton's campaign activity - a move that may have cost the Democrat some crucial votes.

Clinton agreed with the vice president's desire to run independently, even bowing to Gore's decision not to send him to Florida and Arkansas, the president's home state, earlier in the campaign, said White House spokesman Jake Siewert.

The president did visit both states in the weeks before Tuesday's election. But Arkansas ultimately went to Bush, the Republican nominee.

Close votes in American history

John Quincy Adams Grover Cleveland Rutherford Hayes Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, 1800

Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr were tied with 73 electoral votes each. They had been selected as running mates for the Republicans, with John Adams and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney running on the Federalist ticket. Adams and Pinckney received 65 and 64 votes, respectively, with John Jay receiving one vote. The election went to the House of Representatives.

Each state had one vote. There were 16 states at the time, and a majority of the states was needed to win. It took 36 ballots before Jefferson received a majority and was elected president on Feb. 17, 1801. Burr became vice president, according to the Constitution at the time.

John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, 1824

The dominant contenders for the presidency were Adams, Jefferson, Henry Clay and William H. Crawford.

None received a majority of electoral votes, so the top three contenders, Jackson, Adams and Crawford, went to the House of Representatives for election.

It was widely believed that Clay supported Adams in return for being made secretary of state, but Adams won in any case with votes from 13 of the 24 states represented.

Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden, 1876

Tilden led the popular vote, but the morning after the election it appeared Hayes had 185 electoral votes to Tilden's 184.

If just one of Hayes' electors changed his vote, the outcome would change.

On Jan. 29, 1877, a 15-member Electoral Commission was established by law just for the 1876 electoral vote count. It ruled in favor of Hayes, was upheld by the Senate and rejected by the House.

Finally, an agreement was reached. Hayes made certain concessions, and he was declared president on March 2, 1877.

Grover Cleveland
and Benjamin Harrison, 1888

Harrison lost the popular election to Cleveland by more than 90,000 votes, but he became president by winning in the Electoral College.

Compiled by Jayne Tucker

Tight race renews calls to end Electoral College

By Curt Anderson
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - There were new calls yesterday to abolish the Electoral College.

"The people would decide. A majority would rule," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "The point we're trying to make is that this is no way to run a country."

Durbin is co-sponsor of a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would require direct election of presidents, ending the two-centuries-old system of state-based electors. More than 700 attempts to overhaul the system over the decades have failed.

Durbin made his comments as Florida continued its recount.

"The awkwardness comes in that the principle of one man, one vote, is not precisely reflected," said Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa.

Apart from the inherent difficulty of amending the Constitution, turning to a nationwide popular vote to pick a president has long faced extreme difficulties. People from smaller states, already struggling for attention in most presidential races, worry about being ignored altogether by candidates who choose to campaign exclusively in the populous regions.

"I happen to think it may help the smaller states," Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said about the Electoral College. "South Dakota isn't the biggest state in the country, and we're going to look at those three electoral votes with some degree of concern if we lose it."

The Founding Fathers created the Electoral College in 1787 as a buffer between the citizens and election of the president. It was to protect the nation from mob rule and ensure power for less-populous states.

In a presidential election, voters select 538 electors, rather than voting directly for the president and his vice presidential candidate. The electors, distributed according to each state's House and Senate members, meet in December to officially complete the state-by-state electoral process.

States use a winner-take-all system, except Nebraska and Maine. They allocate one elector to the winner of each congressional district and two electors for the winner of the state overall. The two states, taken together, account for nine electoral votes.

Sen. Robert Torricelli, a Democrat from populous New Jersey, said the Constitution's framers meant to make the presidential election a vote of the people in each state, not a vote of the country as a whole.

"This is not the federal republic of America," Torricelli said. "It is the United States of America. Our sense of union, and everyone's inclusion, has now been based on this Electoral College."

There may be hearings and debate in the coming months on Capitol Hill on the proposed amendment, but backers realize the difficulty of pushing it through. To amend the Constitution, both the House and Senate must pass the amendment with two-thirds majorities. Then at least 38 of the 50 states must ratify it.

"Before we change it, I think we need to look at it and think about it pretty hard," said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. "But we should not put it outside the realm of possibility."

Dozens of constitutional amendments are introduced in Congress every year. Only 27 have been added to the nation's cornerstone document.

The world chuckles, and some frown

By Jill Lawless
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Observers around the world marveled yesterday at a rare spectacle - American uncertainty.

In some quarters of the press, bemusement at the deadlocked contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore turned to amusement.

For its headline, Switzerland's French-language 24 Heures played on a famous line from the Apollo 13 space crisis - "Washington, we have a problem."

"Forrest Chumps," read the front-page headline in Britain's tabloid Mirror, above a picture of the two candidates in Gumplike poses. "This election's like a box of chocolates," ran the kicker. "You never know what you're going to get."

For many, the real lesson of this extraordinary election was its affirmation of the power of the individual. Japan's top economic daily, Nihon Keizai, said the election "made us realize the weight of each vote under the democratic system."

Around the world, newspapers had to backpedal from premature declarations of a Bush victory in their Wednesday editions.

"Bush celebration interrupted by recount in Florida," said Mexico City's Reforma newspaper. A day earlier it headlined: "The United States decides: Bush!"

Britain's tabloid Sun proclaimed: "It's Bush, It's Gore . . . oh, we give up!"

Beneath the humor, observers were divided between those who viewed the deadlocked vote as evidence of a flawed electoral system and those who saw a robust democracy at work.

"It seems incredible to me how the elections are going in the United States, which is globally considered the father of democracy," said Alphonse Kwem, a worker in an Internet cafe in Cameroon.

European newspapers tried to help their readers get a grip on the unfamiliar Electoral College system - and many found it wanting.

Sweden's Dagens Nyheter marveled at the fact that Gore may yet win the most votes but lose the election.

"The chaotic situation has made many demand a new election system," the newspaper wrote under the headline "The loser may become president."

Norway's biggest newspaper, Verdens Gang, agreed. "It is not in keeping with basic democratic principles for the one who gets the second-largest share of votes to win the presidential election," it said.

Denmark's Aktuelt newspaper said the fact that nearly half the U.S. electorate did not vote "is, in itself, a huge defeat for democracy."

But British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook declared the process "an excellent example of democracy in action."

"That's what we would expect from one of the world's greatest democracies," he said.

The Jakarta Post newspaper in Indonesia gave a "thumbs up" to the meticulous recount of ballots in Florida.

"As a fledgling democracy, Indonesia could learn much from Wednesday's U.S. election and from the political maturity the American people displayed in adhering to their democratic principles," the newspaper said.

Others predicted the real losers would be the U.S. television networks which on Tuesday night declared, then retracted, a Gore victory in Florida and later a Bush victory for president.

Presidential cliffhanger grabs students' attention

Teacher's paradise

By Hipolito Corella
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

The unresolved presidential race is agonizing to the Bush and Gore camps but it is a boon for history teachers.

"It's great. Now they're interested," Barry O'Rourke said, speaking of his American government students at Pueblo High School.

Like history and government teachers across the country, O'Rourke is thrilled by students' heightened interest in the historic presidential election waiting game.

Monumental events have always fueled students' appetite for learning subject matter they'd normally yawn through - like the Electoral College process, secondary party candidates and tracking polls.

But the controversy swirling around the polls in Florida has drawn the attention of even the most uninterested teen.

"I'm one of the minority of people who says this is a really cool thing," said Rich Mayorga, who chairs the social studies department at Sunnyside High School.

"I've had tons of kids, even some I don't even know, come up to me during passing periods, asking me questions."

In one case, Mayorga said a student contemplating dropping out of school was excitedly following election events on the Internet. "They are all very excited."

The razor-thin difference that likely will determine who gets to move into the White House has made many students realize the value of voting, teachers said.

"Now they see how votes really matter," said Wayne Comrie, who teaches American government at Pueblo. "In textbooks it's just vague ideas."

Down the hall, teacher Gilbert Huerta said the election has rejuvenated his history and American government lessons.

"We just can't turn the TV off," said Huerta, who has kept a muted CNN on in the corner of his classroom.

Student Vincent Siqueiros, 16, said he too has been glued to the all-news network this week.

"I just want to know who wins. I think it's important," Siqueiros said, before joining a handful of other students who peppered Huerta with questions about the Florida ballot and the possible recount outcome.

Huerta said that many of his students have questioned the value of the Electoral College.

"I think the kids - a lot of them - take for granted that whoever wins the popular vote wins the election," he said.

Similarly, many students at Tucson High School believe the Electoral College is antiquated and should be abolished, said David Rubin, who chairs the social studies department.

He said many students resent the weighted value of a vote - where a state's electoral worth dictates the importance of a ballot.

"They've learned that a California vote is worth more than one here," Rubin said. "They've felt each vote should be equal."

Tuesday marked the first time at the polls for Kenny Johnson, a Pueblo senior.

"I just wanted to go out and vote my voice," he said.

His opposition to Proposition 203 - the voter-approved dismantling of bilingual education programs here - drew him to the polls, but Johnson said he shares the nation's longing for a final presidential outcome.

"We're all anxious to see who wins."

* Contact Hipolito R. Corella at 573-4191 or at corella@azstarnet.com.

Sen. Gnant tells surprised Republicans he'll be next Senate president

By Rhonda Bodfield Sander
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

PHOENIX - The newly-tied Senate doesn't yet have a president, but its Republican caucus has been given an ultimatum about one.

Sen. Randall Gnant, a Scottsdale Republican with a history as a bipartisan maverick, said he'll join with the Democrats to organize the Senate and become its next president - unless his colleagues come up with a better compromise by 5 p.m. Monday.

Gnant made the announcement at a press conference yesterday where he was flanked by the Senate's top three Democrats.

No Republicans were in attendance. His colleagues later expressed surprise at Gnant's announcement. The Republicans had decided at a leadership meeting on Wednesday to appoint three members - conservatives Ed Cirillo from Sun City and Ken Bennett from Prescott, and Phoenix moderate Sue Gerard - to negotiate with the Democrats on the power-sharing agreement.

Gnant said his only motive was to make sure the reorganization of the Senate happened quickly so state business, such as preparing for the two-year budget, can get under way.

He promised a new leadership style. "Power-sharing is the wrong term. What some of us are trying to get away from is the notion of power," Gnant said. "What we're looking for is a responsibility-sharing agreement."

Jack Brown, a St. Johns Democratic leader with a rural-conservative streak, would be No. 2 as floor leader. Or at least, that's what the Democrats say.

Gnant said both parties would have floor leaders - a comment that left Brown a tad rankled and illustrated a bit of the chafing that is likely to happen as legislators get used to a split body.

The agreement envisions other stabs at the status quo.

Committees, which for years have been stacked in favor of the majority party, would be split evenly.

Democrats would have the pick of the first two committees, then Republicans would have the second two choices and so on, Gnant said.

He even suggested that half a committee could force a committee chairman to hear a bill, effectively gutting the advantage of the chair.

Gnant acknowledged the usual criticisms of power-sharing. Gridlock could tie up the committees. A weak president couldn't exert enough pressure to force policy resolutions.

But, he said, "The power of the president needs to be weakened. We are electing a leader. We're not electing a king."

Both Gnant and Brown said it would be fine with them if fewer bills end up passing next session because of the evenly split body.

Democrats seem united behind the deal. Mary Hartley, one of the more partisan Phoenix Democrats, said she's excited about a split Senate. In the six years she's been at the Capitol, she's never had a bill passed with her name on it. She's still stinging from the insult of being removed against her will as the ranking Democrat on the Education Committee.

"I want parity," she said.

Gnant predicted he would be elected with bipartisan support and gather more than 20 votes in the 30-member body.

But some Republicans complained about being undercut.

Bennett said Gnant had undermined his ability to negotiate.

Bennett said he's also worried Gnant gave too much power to the Democrats, since he's assuming the first two committee picks they'd take would be Appropriations and Finance. That would give them control of tax and spending policy.

* Contact Rhonda Bodfield Sander at (602) 271-0623 or rhondab@azstarnet.
com.

Three ex-presidents join Clintons for White House 200th birthday

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - As the nation awaited word on its next chief executive, three former presidents were joining President Clinton at the White House last night to celebrate the mansion's two centuries as a symbol of leadership and continuity.

The formal dinner for 1,900 guests honors the building's history and the 40 presidents who have lived there, but much of the attention was focused on three of its recent occupants:

* Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York's senator-elect and the only first lady to win high elected office. She used the occasion to show off a new, 300-place setting of Lenox china, the first to feature the White House itself in the center of a gold-edged plate.

* George and Barbara Bush, who have a keen family interest in the outcome of the still unsettled 2000 presidential election. Their older son, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, and Vice President Al Gore are locked in an unpredictable Florida recount for the final votes needed to decide the next White House tenant.

Other honored dinner guests include former President Gerald R. Ford and his wife, Betty; former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn; and former first lady Lady Bird Johnson. Of the nation's living former presidents, only Ronald Reagan, afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, was unable to attend.

Hillary Clinton, slipping seamlessly from her 16-month Senate campaign into her role as first lady, told reporters that the new china is the product of a two-year design effort in which she took an active role. The china is a gift to the executive mansion from the White House Historical Association, which raised $240,000 from private donations.

The dinner menu, the selection of desserts and the wine list were an attempt to match the tastes enjoyed by White House guests in the age of John Adams and his successor, Thomas Jefferson, the first two presidents to live in the White House.