Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By JIM ROSS
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 14, 2000
INVERNESS -- Supervisor of Elections Susan Gill said Monday that she has received 46 overseas absentee ballots and might receive more before the Friday deadline.
Gill is keeping the ballots, which are unopened, secured under lock and key in her downtown Inverness office. The Canvassing Board, which is composed of Gill, County Commissioner Jim Fowler and County Judge Mark Yerman, will open the ballots Friday afternoon and immediately tabulate the results.
Gill already has registered Citrus County's presidential vote count with state officials in Tallahassee. She said she will forward the results of the overseas ballots Friday, as Florida law requires.
Secretary of State Katherine Harris on Monday said that, according to Florida law, counties have until 5 p.m. today to submit their vote totals, minus the overseas absentees.
Gill has met that deadline. She said it's customary for counties to register their counts and then submit a second figure that reflects the results of the overseas absentee ballots.
"We're following the same procedures," Gill said.
Overseas absentee ballots come from military personnel, students and other residents living abroad. The ballots must have been postmarked by Election Day and must arrive in the correct elections office by Friday.
The ballots typically don't receive much attention. But this year, given the close race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, the ballots have taken on great significance.
Shortly after Harris' announcement Monday, lawyers for Palm Beach and Volusia counties challenged the ruling in court. Lawyers for Gore and the Florida Democratic Party joined them, while attorneys for Bush and Harris' office defended the deadline.
The plaintiffs seek a delay because several counties are conducting manual vote recounts and won't be finished by 5 p.m. today. Gill said there has been no manual recount here, although Citrus, like all counties, completed a mandatory machine recount last week.
Harris said counties that don't certify their vote by the deadline today "shall be ignored."