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Enrollment boon
New Oregon University System figures indicate
record freshman numbers at state schools. PAGE 6
Getting heated
In most Civil War weeks, there is a war of words,
and this week is no exception. PAGE 7
November 15,2000
Volume 102, Issue 56
Weather
TODAY
MOSTLY SONNY
high 50, low 35
Judge upholds deadline, but appeals will follow
Florida
Secretary of
State
Katherine
• Harris will
decide
whether to
accept further
recount totals
By Ron Fournier
AP Political Writer
One week into
Baker III.
America’s election lim
bo, Florida’s Republi
can secretary of state
certified George W.
Bush’s narrow lead
Tuesday night, even as
thousands of disputed
ballots were counted
into the night at Al
Gore’s behest. “When is
it going to end?” asked
Bush aide James A.
There was no answer in sight.
Baker floated a proposal to cease the
ballot-by-ballot fight for Florida’s 25 elec
toral votes and the White House, but De
mocrats said he offered nothing new —
and dismissed it outright. With lawyers
and judges front and center in the presi
dential election, nerves began to fray and
adjectives failed to serve.
“It’s like the seventh day of being held
hostage,” stammered Jeb Bush, governor
of Florida and the harried brother of the
GOP presidential hopeful.
Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a
Bush supporter, announced Tuesday
night that the Texas governor had a 300
vote lead out of 6 million votes cast —
with overseas absentee ballots and ongo
ing recount totals pending.
Her announcement came almost three
hours after a 5 p.m. vote-counting dead
line, upheld earlier by state Judge Terry
Lewis. He turned aside Gore’s arguments
to lift the deadline, but gave Harris the
authority to accept or reject follow-up
manual recount totals afterward.
Lewis’ decision was a setback for the
vice president, who wanted a clear order
lifting the Tuesday deadline, but his
lawyers found solace in ruling language
urging Harris to consider “all appropriate
facts and circumstances” when recount
totals are filed.
Harris said she will require counties fil
ing late recount numbers to explain in
writing by 2 p.m. Wednesday why new
vote totals should be accepted. “Unless I
determine, in the exercise of my discre
tion, that these facts and circumstances...
justify an amendment to today’s official
returns” the totals will stand, she said.
Gore decided to hold off an appeal of
Lewis’ ruling and press forward with re
counts in four Democratic-leaning coun
ties. Gore’s advisers hope Harris will ap
prove the hand-counted ballots though
they expect the worst and are prepared
to appeal if she does not.
“If the secretary of state arbitrarily re
fuses to accept the amended returns
Turn to Florida, page 4
Here are the latest nationwide election
returns in the race for president with 99
percent of the nation’s precincts report
ing. The winner is marked with an ’x\
Gore48,842,411 -48 percent Has won
20 states including the District of Co
lumbia with 262 ev.
Leads in 1 state with 5 ev.
Bush 48,609,516 - 48 percent
Has won 29 states with 246 ev.
Leads in 1 state with 25 ev.
Others 3,699,243 - 4 percent
Needed to win: 270 of the 538 electoral
votes (ev) from the 50 states arid the Dis- *
trict of Columbia.
Source The Associated Press
Spread in’ the word
Republicans examine Oregon
■An Oregon ballot recount will
occur only if the margin
separating the candidates is less
than one-fifth of one 1 percent
By Richard Green
Associated Press Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — One week
after the presidential election, county of
ficials are still counting ballots and
some may be doing so until the Nov. 27
deadline set by state law.
Al Gore has won the presidential race
in Oregon. But Democrats and Republi
cans are eager to see whether the margin
will be small enough to trigger an auto
matic recount — which appears unlike
ly.
With fewer than 10,000 ballots left to
be counted out of 1.5 million cast, Gore
led George W. Bush by 4,233 votes Tues
day evening.
An automatic recount would be trig
gered if the margin narrowed to less than
one-fifth of 1 percent, or about 2,800
votes.
Paddy McGuire, chief of staff for Ore
gon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury,
said the vote count is going about as fast
as could be expected and it is typical to
have a small percentage of the vote unt
abulated days after an election.
“It is only an issue here because the
presidential race is so close,” he said. “If
Al Gore were ahead in Oregon by 5 per
centage points, instead of by 0.4, nobody
would get very excited about a couple
thousand votes here or there. But be
cause it is so close, every vote really does
matter.”
Many of the uncounted votes come
from Multnomah County, where voters
favored Gore and it is unlikely that Bush
would catch up enough to force an auto
matic recall.
If there were no automatic recount,
Bush could still request one, but he
would have to pay for it, and the request
would have to be made by Dec. 12.
Dan Lavey, Bush’s Oregon campaign
spokesman, said no decision would be
made on a possible recount request until
after the final vote total is certified.
However, Republicans began can
vassing county clerks Tuesday to try to
determine the current tally and how
many ballots remain uncounted, Bush
campaign spokeswoman Leslie Good
man said.
“The one concern we found today is
the inability to ascertain accurate up to
the minute information,” Goodman
said.
She also was frustrated by at least one
county that decided to treat the cam
paign’s request for the names of voters
who reregistered after Oct. 17 as a Free
dom of Information Act request, which
would give the county 60 days to re
spond.
“One would think they would feel
compelled to provide that information
sooner rather than later in a reasonable
time frame to protect the integrity of the
ballot,” Goodman said.
ii If A!
Gore were
ahead in
Oregon by 5
percentage
points, in
stead of by
0.4, nobody
would get
very
excited...
But because
it is so close,
every vote
really does
matter.
Paddy
McGuire
Chief of Staff
for Oregon
Secretary Bill
Bradbury^^
Sen. Ron Wyden will hold
“sidewalk office hours" to
day outside the University
Bookstore from 2 p.m. to
3:30 p.m.
Anybody wishing to speak
with Wyden needs only to
show up. No appointments
are necessary.
“This is something he’s done since he was first
elected to make himself as available to Oregoni
ans as possible,” Wyden spokeswoman Lisa
Markgrassaid.
The last time Wyden spoke with constituents on
the street was Sept. 29, when he set up a table in
Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square.
Wyden will also attend a meeting of the Associa
tion of Oregon Counties at the Eugene Hilton.
Tom Patterson Emerald'
The nearly ubiquitous Doug, he of the “Free God News,” is a common sight on campus.
History leaves mark
on Mexico’s future
Author John
Ross delivered
a speech
Tuesday on the
impact of the
Zapatista
rebellion in
Mexico
By Beata Mostafavi
Oregon Daily Emerald
John Ross, a journalist and author who has lived in Mex
ico for over 10 years, spoke to about 50 people Tuesday in
Willamette Hall about his latest release “The War Against
Oblivion: Zapatista Chronicles.”
Ross emphasized the main theme of his book, which is to
remember the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas against the
Mexican government in 1983, appreciate their influence and
the struggle they went through to gain many of the rights
people now have over the government.
“This revolution has left its mark on all of Latin Ameri
ca,” he said. “Rebellion movements have been tragic, dra
matic and comic, yet these memories have been forgotten.”
The author described different sections of his book that
explain the rebellion.
The “ time of secret” incorporates the 10-year-span be
tween 1983 and 1993 when a group of farmers began organ
izing in the jungles and teaching the youth, especially
women, how to use guns and speak Spanish. They called
their secret armythe. EjSrcito Zapatista de Liberacidn Na
.Turn to,Zapatistas, pages. .