Bush wins key legal battle

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Florida judge rejected Al Gore's quest to overturn George W. Bush's certified statewide victory Monday, turning away what some Democrats have said was Gore's best hope to become president. \nCircuit Judge N. Sanders Sauls, in refusing the vice president's historic election contest, rejected Gore's request for a manual recount of thousands of contested ballots in Florida's presidential election. \nThe judge had delayed his verdict for hours to review a decision issued earlier Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court set aside a Florida Supreme Court ruling, which delayed certification that Bush had narrowly carried the state and its crucial 25 presidential electors. \nThe case was sent back to the Florida high court for elaboration on its reasoning. The justices set a 3 p.m. Tuesday deadline for briefs from Gore and Bush but hadn't decided on whether to hold oral arguments. \nHanding Bush a key legal victory, Sauls said he concluded "the evidence does not establish any illegality, dishonesty, gross negligence, improper influence, coercion or fraud in the balloting and counting processes," in the Florida counties where Gore sought hand recounts. \nThe judge refused to sweep aside Bush's 537-vote certified victory and begin courthouse counts of what Gore said were missed votes that had been rejected by machines in heavily Democratic counties. \nGore's lawyers appealed even before spectators, some sitting on the floor, had cleared the packed courtroom. \n"They won. We lost. We're appealing," said Gore attorney David Boies. \n"A lawyer is always happy when he wins," exulted Bush lawyer Barry Richard. \nThe ruling, a major turn in the nation's election drama, capped a day of suspenseful legal developments that ranged from the U.S. Supreme Court to the Florida Supreme Court, to the trial court where the jurist with the southern drawl presided over a hurry-up trial. \nReading aloud to a packed courtroom and nationwide television audience, Sauls came down on Bush's side of the case on point after point. \nHe said county canvassing boards in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Nassau Counties had all acted within their discretion in tabulating votes. \nHe said there was "no authority under Florida law" for certifying an incomplete manual recount or for submitting returns after a deadline fixed by the state Supreme Court, a vindication of the actions of Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a GOP partisan who certified Bush the winner. \nAnd he said that while the record shows "voter error and/or less than total accuracy in regard" to the results in Palm Beach and Miami counties, these problems "cannot support or affect any recounting." \nGore asked for a ruling overturning Bush's slim lead and a manual recount of about 14,000 ballots in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties. The vice president also sought to change the official vote certification in Nassau County, although only 51 votes were involved there. \nThe Bush team argued there was no reason for the recount and said the Texas' governor had been certified properly on the basis of tallies submitted by the canvassing boards in all 67 Florida counties. \nThe ruling by Sauls followed a weekend trial that stretched for more than 20 hours over two days, including testimony from 15 witnesses and arguments by numerous lawyers. \nGore lawyer Boies had argued Sunday that he believed "the law is clear" that hand recounts must begin in key areas where the Democrats believe hundreds of legitimate Gore votes were missed. \nRichard, the lawyer representing Bush, said the Gore team was "light years away" from proving the kind of electoral errors the law requires before a judge can order a courthouse count. \nJoseph Klock, a lawyer for Secretary of State Harris, said the legislature never wanted "one lone circuit court judge in Tallahassee to look through all of the ballots" and choose the next president. \nDemocrats were racing against a Dec. 12 deadline for certifying Florida electors before the Electoral College meets Dec. 18. \nOn other legal fronts: \n• Florida Gov. Jeb Bush filed court papers Monday to move a challenge by voters to 1,500 overseas military ballots that were counted to federal court in Tallahassee. Government lawyers took action after Leon County Circuit Judge L. Ralph Smith Monday ordered local officials in 10 counties to provide absentee ballot records and told state officials to answer questions about the ballot deadlines. \n• A lawyer for Democratic voters in Seminole County said 200 absentee ballot request forms to be used as evidence in a lawsuit challenging absentee ballots are missing. \n• A federal judge in Pensacola will hear arguments in a GOP effort to pad Bush's vote margin by counting overseas ballots that were rejected for lack of a postmark and other problems, mostly those from military voters. \n• The federal appeals court in Atlanta will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a pair of related cases from Bush supporters who want the court to throw out any election results that included hand recounts.