FEP 43 Page 38 I mean, he actually stated that on live television, that was his rationale. P: I think what they did is they changed their standard, and what they were doing is that even if there were dimples, if there was a pattern in the dimples, i.e., Republican or Democrat, they would count that vote for, if it were all Democratic votes, they would assume that would be the vote of the individual for president. I think that's one of the key factors in the United States Supreme Court decision, violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, because the recovery rate on ballots in Palm Beach, was, and I forget the numbers, 10 percent, and in Broward it was 60 percent. M: When you're saying recovery rate, what does that mean? P: When they were counting the ballots where they didn't know from the beginning what the vote was, most of the time in Palm Beach County they would simply say, we can't determine that, but in Broward County they were saying, well, this is a dimple, and we're counting a dimple, and they changed it from two hanging chads to one hanging chad. So, they counted more votes in terms of the recovery rate in Broward. The United States Supreme Court says, well that's not fair, a vote ought to be a vote, and if you use different standards that's a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. So, that may have contributed to that issue. Would you comment on your reaction to the performance of Governor Jeb Bush? Did you have any contact with the governor's office or anybody else from the state of Florida? M: No I did not, no. P: Did you think that he acted in a non-partisan manner considering the fact that his brother was a candidate? M: I don't recall anything specifically that he did that made my eyebrows elevate. Did you have anything specific in mind? P: No, there were some statements by some of the press, the St. Petersburg Times and others, that he was behind the scenes controlling what Katherine Harris did. M: That may or may not be so, I have no knowledge of that. P: I actually don't think it was so, but you know how these kind of rumors start. Would you comment on Bush v. Gore, the 5-4 decision by the United States Supreme Court? What was your reaction to that? M: I thought it was bad law. I thought the rationale of the majority was deeply 38