Palm Beach County Canvassing Board v. Harris

772 So.2d 1220 (2000)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

On Tuesday, November 7, 2000, a general election for the President of the United States was conducted in Florida. Bush, the Republican candidate, had received 2,909,135 votes, and Gore Jr., the Democratic candidate, had received 2,907,351 votes. The difference was 1,784 votes, and an automatic recount was conducted under Florida law. The Democratic Executive Committee requested that manual recounts be conducted in Broward, Palm Beach, and Volusia Counties pursuant to section 102.166, Florida Statutes (2000). A sample manual recount of at least one percent of the ballots cast was done, and it demonstrated a net increase of four votes for Gore; and in Palm Beach County, a recount of four sample precincts yielded a net increase of nineteen votes for Gore. It was deduced that the manual recounts conducted indicated 'an error in the vote tabulation which could affect the outcome of the election.' Based on this determination, several canvassing boards voted to conduct countywide manual recounts pursuant to Florida law. By statute, all county returns must be certified by 5 p.m. on the seventh day after an election. The Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, pursuant to section 106.23, Florida Statutes (2000), sought an advisory opinion from the Division of Elections, requesting an interpretation of the deadline. They stated that absent unforeseen circumstances, returns from the county must be received by 5 p.m. on the seventh day following the election in order to be included in the certification of the statewide results. The Secretary issued a statement on Monday, November 13, 2000, that she would ignore returns of the manual recounts received by the Florida Department of State after Tuesday, November 14, 2000, at 5:00 p.m. The Volusia County Canvassing Board (P) filed suit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, and the candidates and the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board (the Palm Beach Board), among others, were allowed to intervene. P sought a declaratory judgment that it was not bound by the November 14, 2000, deadline and also sought an injunction barring the Secretary from ignoring election returns submitted by the Volusia Board after that date. The trial court ruled that the deadline was mandatory but that P may amend its returns at a later date and that the Secretary, after 'considering all attendant facts and circumstances,' may exercise her discretion in determining whether to ignore the amended returns. P filed a notice of appeal of this ruling to the First District Court of Appeal, and the Palm Beach Board filed a notice of joinder in the appeal. After reconsideration and arguments by various countries, The Secretary again affirmed that she would not accept the amended returns but rather would rely on the earlier certified totals for the four counties. The Secretary further stated that after she received the certified returns of the overseas absentee ballots from each county, she would certify the results of the presidential election on Saturday, November 18, 2000. The Florida Democratic Party and Gore filed a motion seeking to compel the Secretary to accept amended returns. The court denied relief. The Democratic Party and Gore appealed to the First District Court of Appeal, which consolidated the appeals with P's appeal already pending there and certified both of the underlying trial court orders to this Court based on the Court's 'pass-through' jurisdiction. The Florida Supreme Court accepted jurisdiction, set an expedited briefing schedule, and enjoined the Secretary and the Elections Canvassing Commission (Commission) from certifying the results of the presidential election until further order of the Court.