More Election Questions

[Arthur D. Wolf]

        Are you referring to the Paul McCloskey (sp.) election?  I believe it
eventually got settled the following February or March (after the November
election).  The more recent dispute over Loretta Sanchez' victory over
Robert Dornan took much longer than that.


                                Art Wolf



At 02:17 PM 11/8/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>What if - as some have suggested - the Florida recount does not end the
>controversy in a timely manner?
>
>E.g., suppose the Florida recount or the Florida election (the contested
>ballot form, etc.) is appealed or challenged in court, and suppose the
>process drags on, perhaps with state-court appeals and/or federal-court
>litigation and appeals.  Suppose further that, due to the continuing
>controversy and litigation, the Florida result remains unclear, and its
>electors are not determined by the December date on which the electors are
>required to assemble and cast their votes.  What then?
>
>I'm assuming that the December date--fixed by Congress, if I'm not
>mistaken--could be extended by Congress.  Right?  Would any such extension
>be by congressional resolution, or would it have to be full-fledged
>legislation subject to a potential presidential veto?  If Congress did not
>act to change the date, could it be extended by court order, or would that
>be a political question?  If the date is not extended, would the election by
>electors proceed without Florida?  If so, would Gore win the election, with
>a majority of the electors not counting Florida?  The Constitution (12th
>Am.) says that to win the election, the candidate must win the votes of "a
>majority of the whole number of Electors appointed."
>
>For me (if not for Sandy and perhaps not for others), this is a worst case
>scenario; I certainly hope that it doesn't happen.  But I live in Indiana's
>"Bloody 8th" congressional district, which gave rise to an extended and
>highly contentious recount back in the 1980s; it went on for months, as I
>recall.
>
>Anyway, I'm beginning to get questions like the ones I have raised, and I
>don't have good answers.  I'd appreciate whatever help or guidance anyone
>might offer.
>
>Dan Conkle
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>Daniel O. Conkle
>Professor of Law
>Indiana University School of Law
>Bloomington, Indiana  47405
>(812) 855-4331
>fax (812) 855-0555
>mailto:conkle at indiana.edu
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>