Per Ohio law no recount can be asked for before the official certification of the results. These results will be officially certified by Ken Blackwell, Ohio Secretary of State, on Dec/6th at the earliest. He will certify that President Bush is the winner of Ohio and its 20 electoral votes. On December 13th, per the US Constitution, the electors from each state will meet to cast their votes, no one and nothing can change this date. On Dec/13th, the Ohio Republican slate will cast their 20 votes for President Bush.
There is no way they are going to start and finish a recount in five to six days, and this recount joke will be tied in these few days in courts.
There will be no recount in Ohio.
Why is that so difficult? We're just talking about recounting ballots; you run them through the machines again. If someone wants to challenge the validity of certain ballots, that could take extra time and the approval of a judge. But a simple recount can be very fast. (Washington State is in the process of recounting votes for Governor right now, and that's happening over a period of 3 or 4 days.)
It doesn't matter. Any recount would have to be done by 12/06/04 to be within the safe harbor. Remeber Bush v. Gore?
"The Supreme Court of Florida has said that the legislature intended the State’s electors to 'participat[e] fully in the federal electoral process,' as provided in 3 U.S.C. § 5. ___ So. 2d, at ___ (slip op. at 27); see also Palm Beach Canvassing Bd. v. Harris, 2000 WL 1725434, *13 (Fla. 2000). That statute, in turn, requires that any controversy or contest that is designed to lead to a conclusive selection of electors be completed by December 12 [six days before the electoral college meets, as per 3 U.S.C. § 5]. That date is upon us, and there is no recount procedure in place under the State Supreme Court’s order that comports with minimal constitutional standards. Because it is evident that any recount seeking to meet the December 12 date will be unconstitutional for the reasons we have discussed, we reverse the judgment of the Supreme Court of Florida ordering a recount to proceed."
I thought the date was Dec. 20. Wasn't it Dec. 20 at one time?
I under the impression that once the vote is certified ONLY the house can reverse the decision.