Palm Beach County re-launched its manual recount today, just hours after the Florida Supreme Court ruled there was no legal justification to prevent the county from undertaking the painstaking recount. Judge Charles Burton, the chairman of Palm Beach County's canvassing board, sat through tough questions from critics and a few hecklers as he made the announcement this afternoon, just moments after the Florida Supreme Court refused to block the count. With Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush leading Democratic nominee Al Gore by Florida by just 300 votes statewide, Republicans oppose the recounts in heavily Democratic Palm Beach and Broward counties. A recount already was under way in Broward County, south of Palm Beach. Several hundred demonstrators, mostly Republican supporters, rallied around the Palm Beach County courthouse throughout the day as the canvassing board waited for a ruling from the state's high court.
Republicans say the mechanical recount performed so far is better than a hand recount.
They fear that observers will be making a subjective judgment about the intent of the voter and argue that the ballots could deteriorate when handled. And they are unhappy that the process is under way only in two counties that voted heavily for Gore last Tuesday. Those arguments were heard, sometimes loudly, outside the courthouse Thursday evening. Burton said both Republican and Democratic observers will monitor the process. It is the questionable ballots that the canvassing board has to look at and decide.