Letter: Republicans show hypocrisy

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000 | 9:51 a.m.

To begin with, Republicans would have us ignore more than 20,000 people in Palm Beach County who were disenfranchised because of a confusing and illegal ballot. If we don't stand up for the principle that every citizen should have his or her vote counted, how can we call ourselves a democracy?

The very integrity of our democratic process is at stake, and the fact that Republicans would rather rush to judgment than find out what the true will of the people is should be of concern to all Americans.

But the latest example of Republican hypocrisy is truly stunning. It came when the Bush campaign went to a federal court to try to stop local election authorities from following the law and proceeding with a manual recount. This after attacking the Gore campaign relentlessly for days over the possibility that the Democrats might seek a legal remedy for the disenfranchised citizens in Palm Beach.

And to top it off, James Baker had the audacity to suggest that a machine count was more accurate than a hand count, even though George W. Bush himself recently signed a law in Texas stating that manual counts are preferable to machine counts in disputed ballot situations!

SACHA A. BOEGEM