Recount Page #5

to be had,

but we must also remember

there is no shame

in placing country above party.

Chris,

you've been a mentor to me

and I will forever be grateful

to you for that,

But I...

I can't do it like this.

We may well have won this election,

Chris.

And we owe it to this country

to find out the truth.

- Guys.

- What?

The numbers are in on

the machine recount. You gotta see this.

All the counties in Florida have

now finished their initial recount,

and according

to the Associated Press's numbers,

George W. Bush

leads Al Gore in that state

by 327 votes.

Holy sh*t!

All right, Mr. Klain, all right.

We'll fight to count the two counties.

I want four.

We agreed on two.

I want to add Broward and Miami-Dade.

They're chock-full

of democratic undervotes.

We won't be able to finish before

Miss Harris's certification deadline.

It's physically impossible

for all four counties

to finish a hand recount

in five days.

If we get ahead of Bush,

it will change the entire game.

She'll have to extend the deadline.

But we've got to get ahead first.

We need to start placing

pressure on her.

There's no logical reason for her

not to extend the deadline

until all the votes have been counted.

The democrats in Florida,

with the presidency at stake,

are asking for a so-called hand count

in four democratic counties.

How in the world can

a cheap politician say,

"I know this guy intended to vote

for Gore

"even though he didn't punch

through the ballot"?

But Bob, first of all, this process

is specifically authorized

by Florida election law.

Maybe we should ask for recounts too,

but from Republican-leaning counties

to offset any gains they make.

Hell no.

Why do we need a recount?

We already won.

They gave up all their moral high ground

when they only requested recounts

in the four most liberal counties

in the state.

Al Gore is not interested

in counting all the votes.

He's only interested in counting

Al Gore votes.

Al Gore is not interested

in counting all the votes.

He's only interested in counting

Al Gore votes.

That's why he's cherry-picking votes

from the four most liberal counties

in the state.

Now the votes have been counted

and recounted

and in every case,

George Bush is the winner.

Hand recounts are chaotic.

They're unreliable

and they lead to mischief.

That's why we've moved on to machines.

Katherine?

Katherine, there's a problem.

actually run their ballots

through the machines again.

They mostly did some sort of

retabulation of the memory cards.

That means that 1.5 million ballots

weren't actually recounted.

I think we need to be very quiet

about this...

Is somebody in my office?

It's Clay.

You never know

where life is going to lead you, Clay.

I was just thinking, 10 years ago

I was teaching the chicken dance

to seniors.

And now I've been thrust

into an electoral tempest

of historical dimensions.

And the eyes of the world

have landed on me.

The law states

that I cannot accept returns

after the certification deadline

unless... This is important...

There is some sort of natural disaster

which prevents counties

from turning in results on time,

such as a hurricane.

Secretary Harris,

Secretary Harris...

My understanding is that the law

gives you the discretion

to accept late returns for any reason,

that it's up to you.

The law says

there has to be a hurricane.

Does her makeup count as a hurricane?

No, thank you for your question.

We've all been a little confused,

glued to our TVs as well

and worried about the results

some people have been giving. Sorry.

But no,

there will be

absolutely no communication

with either campaign.

I've instructed my staff to place

a firewall around my office.

This woman is hopeless.

We're gonna need some help on this.

Vincis

vincit...

Vincimus,

vincitis,

vincunt.

Again.

Vinco,

vincis...

Come on now, you know I don't like calls

when I'm in my class.

I'm just curious, Mac,

are you gonna sit around

and parse latin verbs all day

or are you gonna get into this fight?

Quo me vis?

What the hell does that mean?

It means, "Where do you want me?"

Pink sugar.

Sorry.

Sorry, Mac.

Listen, Katherine,

most people go through their lives

never having a chance

to make a difference.

And those lucky enough

to have that chance

don't recognize it when it comes.

They think it's down the road,

or that it's going to be next year

or the year after that.

But if you're a public official

wanting to make history,

then today is your lucky day, darlin'.

You're about to pick

the leader of the free world.

Don't you worry, Mac.

It's going to take a lot more

than David Letterman

making fun of my hair

and makeup to knock me down.

That is exactly why I backed

your campaign when everyone else

ran over to Mortham...

Because you are a woman of action.

A woman of action, like Queen Esther.

Queen Esther?

I have been reading

my bible quite a bit here lately,

and I have been feeling

this unusually strong kinship

with Queen Esther.

You recall Queen Esther...

She was willing to sacrifice herself

to save the lovely jewish people.

And that's exactly

what I'm doing right now.

And if I perish,

I perish.

You have to stay strong, Katherine.

The world needs to see

that Katherine Harris is in charge.

You need to bring

this election in for a landing.

Yeah.

Bring it in for a landing?

Bring it in for a landing

with George W. Bush in the cockpit.

They're going to ask for extensions,

for negotiations, for recounts.

We don't have

to let that happen, Katherine.

Under the law,

when is a hand recount allowed

and when would it be denied?

It says, "Hand recounts are allowed

"if there is an error in vote tabulation

"which could affect

the outcome of an election."

- It's vague.

- No, it's really vague.

The key then is interpreting what

"error in vote tabulation" means, right?

If there are ballots that the machine

did not count for whatever reason,

then that would be

an "error in vote tabulation".

Just the existence of uncounted ballots

justifies a hand recount, right?

Our position has got

to be that "error in vote tabulation"

means how the systems tabulated them.

So the only way

a hand recount can proceed

is if the hardware

or the software broke down.

If there is no systems error,

then they cannot conduct a hand recount.

Listen, Kerey,

the election statutes are confusing.

We need you to go down

to Palm Beach County

and offer them some guidance.

We have very little authority

over the canvassing boards...

Unless they request an advisory opinion.

Sure thing, Clay.

Live from Palm Beach.

With three days left

till the certification deadline

Palm Beach county

will hand-recount 1% of their votes.

And based on

the results of this 1% recount,

the canvassing board will then decide

if they are to hand-recount

the remaing 99% of their ballots.

- That's exactly the reason...

- Can we please count the votes that

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