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Saturday Morning News

Overseas Absentee Ballots Could Affect Outcome in Florida

Aired November 11, 2000 - 7:35 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: To get the latest on all the election activity today in Florida, we're going to check in again with CNN's Bill Hemmer, who's there.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Food morning, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles and Kyra, good morning once again to you.

As you mentioned, two hand counts will begin shortly here in the state of Florida. It's quite possible more hand counts will start in the first part of next week.

One thing we have not mentioned just yet this morning, though is still the issue of these overseas ballots that still have a deadline of next Friday the 17th of November in order to be counted here in the state of Florida.

Going to bring in CNN's Mike Boettcher now quickly for more on this topic. And again, there's another six or seven days before that deadline hits. What are officials saying about the ballots that continue to come in now?

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's of great interest. Everyone's talking about the ballots that have been counted that are being recounted. well, the big question is the ballots that haven't been counted. And we don't know how many of those are yet to come in.

What we do know is that many of them will be in the mail today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER (voice-over): In one of these envelopes from overseas, perhaps the ballot that elects the next president of the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got three pieces -- four pieces of overseas mail today.

BOETTCHER: With an unofficial tabulation of Florida's recount showing George W. Bush holding a razor-thin lead, the overseas absentee ballots, to be counted by November 17th, could decide the election. A full 10 percent of Florida's population, 176,000 U.S. military personnel, are eligible to vote in Florida, and at any one time, several thousand of them are posted abroad.

Add to that civilian Floridians living overseas, and a substantial number of absentee ballots could remain to be counted. The ballots they cast that were received on or before last Tuesday's election are already included in the current vote total. Ballots received up to 10 days after the election also will be counted and certified by next Friday.

Those totals will eventually be added up here, on the 18th floor of Florida's State Capitol Complex, where, besides conducting a statewide recount, officials also will tabulate revised totals from a handful of counties that must now recount ballots by hand, a complicated and time-consuming process.

DAVID CARDWELL, FORMER FLORIDA ELECTION DIRECTOR: There are teams of two people each, one from each political party, that would examine the ballot and they would have to come to an agreement if the ballot is to be registered as a change in the vote. So they'll have to go through all the votes. They can't pull out just the 19,000.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOETTCHER: So it's going to be an interesting process, a lot of counting going on. The process with those overseas ballots, they will all arrive over the next few days, they will be stored in a safe place, and then on Friday, Bill, they will be counted, opened and counted on Friday. So there will not be an incremental count. We're told the normal process is they'll be opened up on Friday and we'll know.

HEMMER: Pretty amazing, they're waiting for the mailman every day now to count just a few ballots that could possibly decide this.

BOETTCHER: Well in this county alone, they have 130 that came in yesterday, or they named two days, came in,

HEMMER: Coming up next, we're going to talk next hour, we'll bring in the "chad" factor in all this.

BOETTCHER: OK, we'll talk about it.

HEMMER: Stay tuned for that. Mike Boettcher, interesting. Mike Boettcher along with us here in Tallahassee.

Back now to Atlanta for more breaking news from overseas. Miles, Kyra, back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Bill.

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