As the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments today from lawyers for both presidential candidates, both University students and the American public nationwide may be starting to lose patience. Recent polls show that while Americans still staunchly support each candidate, many are tiring of hearing about dimpled and pregnant chads.
The Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling last week which extended the deadlines for the conclusion of manual recounts being conducted in three Florida counties - Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) decried the court's decision, claiming it infringed on the powers of the Florida legislature and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris to determine election laws.
The Bush camp immediately petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court in case the certification held last Sunday failed to be in his favor.
Even though Bush was later declared the winner of the Sunshine State's 25 electoral votes, Vice President Al Gore (D) refused to concede the Florida results, causing Bush to continue his push to argue the deadline case before the Supreme Court.
The Court will begin hearing arguments today.
Gore attorneys filed their own brief with the Supreme Court yesterday following a Florida legislature committee vote to call a special session in order to choose Florida electors.
The Gore camp has attacked this special session vote because they said these electors will be appointed because of their loyalty to Bush. This vote comes in the wake of speculation regarding defecting electors, who may vote for Gore, who won the national popular vote, even though Bush officially won all of the state's electoral votes.
The Bush attorneys also filed written arguments yesterday in response to Gore's suit.
Apart from legal battles, there were other election spectacles in Florida yesterday as a convoy of police cars carried a half million ballots from Palm Beach County to the capitol building in Tallahassee. The votes are being sent in case they need to be recounted after the pending legal battles. A second convoy will start today from Miami-Dade County, despite a Miami-Dade canvassing board decision to stop manual recounts earlier last week after determining that deadlines set by the Florida Supreme Court could not be met.
As these stories and other election catch phrases such as pregnant chad and dimpled ballots continue to bombard the American public, University students are tiring of the entire election process.
"I'm tired of following it," third-year Engineering student Nick Transier said. "I'd like to see anything on the news rather than the election."
Second-year College student Stephanie Sweeney agrees it is not only University students who grow frustrated with hearing the same news, but "everyone else is tired of it as well."
Even though most students interviewed said they are bored with hearing about the latest news from Florida, there are mixed reactions regarding the role each candidate has chosen to play.
"I am faithful to Gore," third-year College student Jeff Siegelman said. "I don't think the recount has been done as fairly as it should have been."
Given the many problems that may have occurred in Florida on Election Day - such as people being turned away from the polls and confusing ballots - Gore's decision to not concede the election results is "absolutely justified," University Democrats President Laura Martin said.
But other students said they think Gore has exhausted all his options and needs to concede the election.
"I think that enough laws have been bent that if Gore hasn't won by now, he's not going to win it at all," second-year College student Jarrod Cady said.
Read More
HRL preassigns 25 percent of returning resident advisors for 2024-25 academic year
By Cecilia Mould | 1 hours agoSome SRs are upset with this change, with two SRs saying that it has somewhat reduced the relative autonomy they have had when choosing their staff in past years.
Virginia Attorney General Speaks On Free Speech And Criminal Justice Reform
By Vyshnavi Tatta | YesterdayMiyares said pursuing repeat criminal offenders is a more crucial step in reducing crime, saying that studies show a small percentage of criminals commit a majority of crimes.
Student Council passes summer budget, bill supporting allergy policy reform
By Arshiya Pant | YesterdayThe biggest expenditure categories outlined in the summer 2024 budget were CIO Consultant funds and Support and Access Services, respectively receiving $67,000 and $65,950.
