Bills Still Mounting in Election Expenses

With the bills still rolling in, the state and county governments already face expenses of more than $3 million for ballot recounts and lawsuits concerning the Nov. 7 presidential election, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Expenses so far for the state are more than $1.24 million. The largest single bill so far is for $682,266, submitted by a law firm representing Secretary of State Katherine Harris in 40 lawsuits statewide. One item on that bill is $10,000 for a chartered plane to take an attorney from Tallahassee to Washington--about 750 miles. Counties are faced with overtime charges, legal expenses and security costs for the statewide manual recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court on Dec. 8 and halted by the U.S. Supreme Court the next day.