Text of Florida Circuit Judge's Upholding of Return Deadline
Friday, November 17, 2000


Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis ruled Friday morning that Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris does not have to accept late hand-counted votes in the presidential election. The full text of his ruling follows:
Order Denying Emergency Motion to Compel Compliance
With and for Enforcement of Injunction

The limited issue before me on this Motion is whether the Secretary of State has violated my Order of November 14, 2000. The Plaintiffs assert that she has acted arbitrarily in deciding to ignore amended returns from counties conducting manual recounts. I disagree.

As noted in my previous Order, Florida law grants to the Secretary, as the Chief Elections Officer, broad discretionary authority to accept or reject late filed returns. The purpose and intent of my Order was to insure that she in fact properly exercised her discretion, rather than automatically reject returns that came in after the statutory deadline.

On the limited evidence presented, it appears that the Secretary has exercised her reasoned judgment to determine what relevant factors and criteria should be considered, applied them to the facts and circumstances pertinent to the individual counties involved, and made her decision. My Order requires nothing more.

Accordingly, it is

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Motion is hereby denied.

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, this 17th day of November, 2000.

Terry P. Lewis, Circuit Judge

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Former Secretary of State
James Baker's Statement
Friday, November 17, 2000


The following is former secretary of state and Bush aide James Baker's response to Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis' ruling that Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris can ignore late election returns.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have just spoken with Governor Bush and Secretary Cheney, and they are understandably pleased with Judge Lewis' opinion. The rule of law has prevailed.

The court applied the rule of law objectively and fairly, upholding the reasoned judgment of the Secretary of State and the State Elections Commission's certification of results on November 15th.

We now look forward to the prompt counting and reporting of the limited number of uncounted overseas absentee ballots, so that the process of achieving a final result to the election in Florida is not subject to further delays.

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