VOTE: 1,000s of Lawyers Prepare for Florida Vote, page 1

Based on the outcome of the voting and claims of voter intimidation and fraud in the 2000 election in Florida, thousands of lawyers for both the Democratic and Republican parties are preparing to monitor polling places in Florida for any signs of irregularity. Both sides are training lawyers to contest the results in the event they are needed, but the hope is that they will not be.

www.local6.com
MIAMI -- Lawyers on both sides of the political divide are armed for legal battle leading up to Election Day and thereafter in a state where the lawsuits have already piled up.

Many of the attorneys who were central to the battle for Florida in the protracted 2000 presidential count are back again for the contentious race between President Bush and his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry.

Most of the lawsuits filed against the state so far have been by individuals, such as U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., or civil rights organizations on issues of manual recounts on touch-screen machines and incomplete voter registration forms. But the legal teams for Bush and Kerry are ready for a potential showdown after the polls close Nov. 2.

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My hope is that they will not be needed, but my fear is that if one side starts nitpicking the other will return with their own claims of fraud or intimidation. I don't think this will be good for voters.

Voter turn out has gotten lower and lower in successive elections. If voters feel that their votes are going to need the approval of lawyers to count, they may well stay away from the polls in mass quantities.

I hope this does not become the norm. 2000 was not the first year that there were problems. It was simple the point in time when the problems became highlighted due to the closeness of the results

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