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| For Immediate Release | |
| Dec 6, 2000 | Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
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Independent Accounting Firm Will Guide Examination (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the non-partisan government watchdog, today announced that it will continue to count ballots in Broward County, Florida at 10:00 a.m. County Attorney James Cherof confirmed the count today in a letter, after initially refusing to allow Judicial Watch access. Judicial Watch had threatened to go to court to obtain full access under Florida’s “sunshine law.” Judicial Watch, under Florida state law, has requested access to ballots in all 67 Florida counties and had begun an examination of Palm Beach’s ballots until they were ordered to Tallahassee by Judge N. Sanders Sauls. Judge Sauls then allowed for inspection of the ballots by Judicial Watch at an appropriate time. Well over 40 counties responded positively to Judicial Watch’s requests. Three counties – Palm Beach, Volusia, and Broward – failed to respond according to the Florida state law and were sued by Judicial Watch. In the Palm Beach county lawsuit, Judge Jorge Labarga gave Judicial Watch access to Palm Beach ballots last week and a preliminary count took place. Johnson Lambert & Co., a public accounting firm with expertise both in counting ballots and in detecting fraud, is helping oversee the Judicial Watch effort. A preliminary report by the firm on the Palm Beach ballots examined is available on Judicial Watch’s Internet site at www.judicialwatch.org. In its initial examination of the Palm Beach ballots, Judicial Watch found chads taped onto ballots, “recreated” ballots, and no reconciliation of the different counts performed by the Palm Beach officials. “This matter, however the courts finally rule, will always be an issue of public interest. This is why Judicial Watch is intent on conducting an independent analysis, free of political party influence, of the ballots at issue. The American people deserve an independent set of numbers to better evaluate the presidential election in Florida,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. Judicial Watch plans to issue public reports on its findings and will recommend any needed reforms to the election processes in Florida. |
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