>From: <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: A washingtonpost.com article from [log in to unmask]
>Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 04:21:40 -0500 (EST)
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>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13583-2000Dec2.html
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>Court Officials Prepare For Recount
>
>TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ––  Leon County Circuit Court Clerk Dave Lang has been on
>the job 41 years and nothing in that time compares to what might lie ahead:
>a hand count of 1 million ballots.
><P>
>With 185 employees and the ongoing daily responsibilities of a busy court,
>Lang has been preparing contingency plans should Judge N. Sanders Sauls
>order a count of the ballots from two South Florida counties.
><P>
>Sauls scheduled a hearing Saturday on a lawsuit by Democratic presidential
>candidate Al Gore calling for an immediate hand recount of 462,000 ballots
>from Palm Beach County and 654,000 from Miami-Dade County. Gore hopes to
>overcome Republican George W. Bush's narrow lead in the state that will
>determine which man will be the next president.
><P>
>"We are looking at this election as a historical occasion," said Lang, who
>made plans to retire Jan. 1 long before his county became a focal point of
>the disputed presidential election. "Whatever comes up, I want us to be
>able to handle it."
><P>
>The clerk's office is in control of the ballots, now considered evidence in
>the civil lawsuit. The bulk of the ballots from Miami-Dade arrived Friday
>afternoon. The Palm Beach ballots were brought to the courthouse Thursday.
><P>
>Lang on Friday enlisted aid from Ion Sanchez, the county's election
>supervisor, to train Lang's employees in how to properly count and handle
>ballots.
><P>
>Leon County doesn't use the punch-card ballot system that has created so
>many problems in the South Florida counties, but Sanchez said he has
>studied the system and is prepared to assist if the judge so orders.
><P>
>Lang also was preparing to find a location that would allow for the
>counting of the ballots and trying to figure out how to keep the clerk's
>office operating while the counting goes on.
><P>
>"If this goes on for an extended period of time, our normal operations will
>be affected," he said.
><P>
>For Lang, the crush of a high-profile case is nothing new. In the 1960s, he
>handled civil rights demonstration cases that topped 500 defendants at a
>time. In 1978 and 1979, his office weathered the trial of serial killer Ted
>Bundy, who was sentenced to death.
><P>
>But nothing, Lang said, is like what he's prepared to face now. Still, he's
>confident he and his staff will get the job done.
><P>
>"To show my staff is competent, that they can handle any job, there isn't a
>better way to leave office," Lang said.
>

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