Instead, the case here was brought by a colorful local lawyer, who has sued to throw out some 15,000 Seminole County absentee ballots. A trial was set for December 6. And if presiding Judge Nikki Ann Clark agrees, Gore could get a net gain of nearly 5,000 votes, potentially reversing the outcome of the presidential election. Goard admits she gave GOP workers access to some 2,100 rejected applications for absentee ballots from Republicans who eventually cast votes. And Michael Leach, a state Republican Party official, acknowledges he spent at least 15 days at the canvassing office, where he had access to computer records to help fill in missing voter identification numbers.
Republicans scoff at the allegations.
But the Bush lawyers are clearly worried. In a sign of just how nervous they are, they filed an unusual motion asking Clark, a seven-year court veteran, to recuse herself. But that's not the Bush team's only concern. And Seminole isn't the only place ballot fixing is being alleged. There are also lawsuits charging improprieties in Bay County and Martin County, where a Republican elections supervisor admitted allowing GOP operatives to remove hundreds of absentee ballot applications for hours or days to correct errors.