Another accusation made by Republican leaders was that the recounting conducted by about 140 people on Saturday was biased in favor of Gore. They noted that the counters are county and state employees who work in Broward, where most people are Democrats. Republicans are taking down the names of Democrats working as counters and partisan observers. The Herald reported Saturday that Democrat Steve Michaelson, a chief assistant public defender, worked as a partisan observer Wednesday and a counter on Thursday. Norm Ostrau, an attorney for the canvassing board, said there's no law preventing partisan observers from also working as counters.
Every decision made by a counter is reviewed by a Democratic and Republican observer.