A Solomonic Solution?

[Leslie Goldstein]

What would be wrong with dealing with the problem of 19,000 ballots cast in Palm
Beach County for both Gore AND Buchanan by counting 50% of them for each
candidate.  This is not the morally perfect solution (to my mind the perfect
solution would be a re-vote open only to all [still alive] who had voted the
first time.  But that is expensive in both time and money and looks increasingly
unlikely in light of the success of the rhetoric of the Bush operatives to date.
This compromise would achieve the following:
1. save time and money as against a revote.
2. offer some solace to the many thousands who believe they were cheated of a
vote by defective and misleading voting paraphernalia.
3.  While it does not give all the votes that a re-vote would, it does honor the
secrecy of the ballot and it is inconceivable that these double voters would NOT
prefer getting at least 50% of their votes counted for their candidate as against
getting none of their votes counted.
4.  It allows no voter two votes.

So what is wrong with it, and why should the re-counters in Palm Beach County not
implement this immediately--i.e. before 2 pm today?
Leslie Friedman Goldstein