IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE SECOND JUDICIAL
CIRCUIT,
LEON COUNTY, FLORIDA, CIVIL
DIVISION
ALBERT GORE JR., et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v. CASE NO. 00-2808
KATHERINE HARRIS, SECRETARY
OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, et al.
Defendants.
__________________________________/
MOTION FOR INTERVENTION BY JUDICIAL
WATCH, INC.
JUDICIAL
WATCH, INC., by counsel and pursuant to Rule 1.230 of the Florida Rules of
Civil Procedure, hereby move this Court
for an order to intervene in the above-referenced action, and as grounds
therefor, states the following:
1. On Tuesday, November 28, 2000, this
Court ordered that certain disputed ballots cast in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade
Counties during the November 7, 2000 election be transported to the Court, in
Tallahassee, Florida, for purposes of a election contest initiated by Albert
Gore, Jr. and Joseph Lieberman.
2. On that same date, November 28,
2000, Judicial Watch Inc., a non-profit, non-partisan, public interest watchdog
organization, began reviewing these same disputed ballots in West Palm Beach,
Florida pursuant to an oral order entered by the Hon. Jorge LaBarga of the Palm
Beach County Circuit Court on Wednesday, November 22, 2000. Judicial Watch, Inc. had sought and obtained
timely access to these ballots pursuant to Florida’s Public Records Act, Fla.
Stat. Ann. § 119.07.
3. On or about November 14, 2000,
Judicial Watch, Inc. also received approval from Miami-Dade County to access
ballots in that County pursuant to a Florida Public Records Act request. Judicial Watch, Inc. has been attempting to
reach an agreement with Miami-Dade County officials about when and where
Judicial Watch, Inc. could have access to these ballots at the time this Court
ordered that the ballots be transported to Tallahassee, Florida.
4. Judicial Watch, Inc. is being
assisted in its review of ballots by the accounting firm of Johnston Lambert
& Co. and Mr. Kevin Haggerty, a Certified Public Accountant of that firm,
who have expertise in ballot counting and fraud detection. Mr. Haggerty’s resume, and the resume of Mr.
Larry Johnson, the managing partner of the firm, are attached hereto.
5. In just one day of reviewing
ballots, Judicial Watch, Inc. has made several disturbing findings, including the following, among others:
i. Palm Beach County officials admitted
to Judicial Watch, Inc. that the various counts and recounts have yielded
inconsistent results for the total number of votes cast, as well as
inconsistences in the total number of votes cast and the combined total of
votes for the various presidential candidates.
In short, Palm Beach County’s numbers do not add up;
ii. Palm Beach County officials admitted
to Judicial Watch, Inc. that they kept no records of how specific disputed
ballots were adjudicated;
iii. Palm Beach County officials admitted
to Judicial Watch, Inc. that ballots were allegedly destroyed during machine
counts, and, accordingly, officials and “volunteers” attempted to “recreate”
these ballots;
iv. Chads have been taped onto ballots,
allegedly to prevent them from falling off, and /or allegedly because the
“voter” had changed his or her mind;
v. Palm Beach County officials used
envelopes to delineate the disputed ballots for each candidate, but some of the
disputed ballots were placed in the wrong candidate’s envelope. 6. Clearly, if the ballots at issue are
transferred to Tallahassee, Judicial Watch, Inc. will not be able to continue
its review of the ballots in West Palm Beach or undertake its review in
Miami-Dade County. Accordingly,
Judicial Watch, Inc. respectfully requests that it be allowed to intervene in
this action so as to continue its review of the ballots in Tallahassee, which was undertaken in the public interest
to inform the American people of the underlying fact, free from the “political
spin” of partisans.
7. Because this Court has not ordered
another recount of the ballots, but simply ordered that they be transferred to
Tallahassee, Judicial Watch, Inc. respectfully submits that there is no reason
why it should not be allowed to continue reviewing these ballots pursuant to
Florida law and in the public interest, under appropriate security precautions,
in Tallahassee.
8. In the event that the Court does
order a recount, Judicial Watch, Inc. simply requests that it be present at any
recount, so that it can continue its review, as allowed under the Public
Records Act, as any recount is being conducted.
9. Judicial Watch, Inc. also
respectfully submits that the independent review of the disputed ballots that
it and its experts are undertaking will likely be of substantial assistance to
the Court in its adjudication of the issues raised by this election contest,
and in particular its decision whether to conduct recounts. Judicial Watch, Inc. and its experts are
non-partisan.
WHEREFORE,
JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. respectfully requests that the Court enter an order
permitting it to intervene in this action in order to continue its review of
the ballots in question.
JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.
By: _____________________________
Larry Klayman, Esq.
Fla. Bar. No. 246220
501 School Street, S.W.
Suite 725
Washington, DC 20024
(202) 646-5172 (office)
(202) 646-5199
(facsimile)
Attorneys for Judicial
Watch, Inc.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on November 29, 2000 a true and correct copy of the
foregoing MOTION FOR INTERVENTION BY
JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. was served, via facsimile and first class U.S. mail,
postage prepaid, on the following:
Attorneys for Albert Gore
Jr. and Joseph Lieberman:
Mitchell W. Berger, Esq.
John D.C. Newton, II,
Esq.
BERGER, DAVIS &
SINGERMAN
215 South Monroe Street,
Suite 705
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Attorneys for George W.
Bush and Richard Cheney:
Barry Richard, Esq.
Michael Carvin, Esq.
GREENBERG TRAURIG
101 East College Avenue
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Attorneys for Secretary
Katherine Harris and the Florida Elections
Canvassing Board:
Joseph P. Klock, Esq.
Jonathan Sjostrom, Esq.
Donna E. Blanton, Esq.
STEEL HECTOR & DAVIS
215 South Monroe Street,
Suite 601
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Deborah Kearney, Esq.
General Counsel
Florida Department of
State
400 South Monroe Street,
PL 012
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Attorneys for Miami-Dade
County Canvassing Board:
Tucker Ronzetti, Esq.
Assistant County Attorney
111 N.W. 1st Street
Miami, FL 33130
Attorneys for the Palm
Beach County Canvassing Board:
Andrew McMahon, Esq.
Palm Beach County
Attorney’s Office
301 N. Olive Avenue,
Suite 601
West Palm Beach, FL 33401-4705
Bruce S. Rogow, Esq.
BRUCE S. ROGOW, P.A.
500 East Broward Blvd., Suite 1930
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33394
Attorneys for the Nassau
County Canvassing Board:
Michael S. Mullin, Esq.
191 Nassau Place
Yulee, FL 32097
Attorneys for the
Republican Party:
Ben Ginsburg, Esq.
STATE REPUBLICAN
HEADQUARTERS
420 West Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Attorneys for Matt
Butler:
Terrell C. Madigan, Esq.
Harold R. Mardenborough,
Jr., Esq.
McFARLAIN, WILEY, CASSEDY
& JONES
215 South Monroe Street,
Suite 600
Tallahassee, FL 32301
And:
Harold McLean, Senior
Attorney
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURAL
& CONSUMER SERVICES
515 Mayo Building
407 South Calhoun Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399
_____________________________
Paul J. Orfanedes