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Thursday, Aug. 2, 2001

The newspaper said the files could not be retrieved after they were dumped to make room for a March election for dozens of municipal offices.

The files had showed how each ballot was punched in the presidential election, depriving scholars and journalists from analyzing the results of the presidential vote.

"The data is especially important because Palm Beach was one of the key counties in the five-week recount process that ultimately sent President Bush to the White House," the newspaper said.

The Tribune learned of the destroyed files when it asked the Democrat-ruled county for copies.

Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore said the files were never requested for review until the 2000 election.

She said in the past, the files were "not something that we could retrieve and be able to read. We never thought of saving them."

The ballots themselves are available, but they have been handled extensively since Election Day and are likely to be damaged.

Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, Fla., an examination of computers in the Florida secretary of state's office was to begin.

They were used by two high-profile Republican strategists who set up shop in the offices of Secretary of State Katherine Harris during the recount. J.M. "Mac" Stipanovich and Adam Goodman said they worked for Harris to help her draft public statements and worked without pay.

"I was completely divorced from substantial discussion on policy," said Goodman.

The New York Times started the controversy with an article criticizing the way the state handled overseas absentee ballots.

The Times said the two men helped Harris draft a statement on what ballots would be acceptable. The statements "seemed to make it easier to accept ballots with late postmarks."

"I never participated in any former discussion of absentee ballots and was not present or privy to any discussions" about the statement, Stipanovich said.

When the Times asked for the e-mails sent on the computers, she said they had been destroyed. Then when the newspaper asked to examine the hard drives, she said they did not fall under Florida's Government in the Sunshine laws because some of the messages were personal.

After Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth said the hard drives were part of public records, she agreed to allow an expert hired by a group of newspapers to look at the hard drives.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

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Presidential Race 2000
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