In the interests of full disclosure, it should be noted that the eventual loser, Gov. Samuel J. Tilden of New York, asked The New York Times on election night if it knew the outcome of the vote in those states. The staunchly Republican managing editor of The Times, John C. Reid, woke Zachariah Chandler, chairman of the Republican Congressional committee, to alert him to the Democrats' ignorance. The two of them hatched a plot to get officials in those states to produce results that claimed victory. But while the historical lessons emphasize the political peril, whoever is behind next Friday could still choose to go to court. Indeed, the Bush campaign was seeking an injunction yesterday to halt manual recounts in Florida.
Courts can settle huge issues quickly when they absolutely have to, but they can also take too long.
And if a judge ordered a new election in Palm Beach County, it might be very hard to manage it, after all the appeals, by Dec. 18. That is the day the peculiar institution of the Electoral College meets, with a solemnity unknown to most of the political hacks who serve as electors. There is a nice ritual to their meetings, and in some states they are paid. IT is likely that the election will be settled before then, because prior to the Electoral College meeting, governors must submit to Congress and the National Archives the arcane documents known as Certificates of Ascertainment, naming their electors. The certificate from Florida, or the lack of one, could settle it.