Short answer:
When it came to Dade, Palm Beach, Broward, and Volusia counties, the Goreites said count every vote and let the will of the voter be heard, to which the Bushies said follow the law.  When it came to military ballots and absentee ballots in Martin and Seminole County, the Bushies said let every vote count and let the will of the voter be heard, to which the Gorites said follow the law.

While it is unclear who really won Florida, the following is crystal clear: loyalists from both parties have shown that the will of the voter only matters when it may mean more votes for their candidate, and the law only matters when it may silence the will of voters who probably favored their candidate’s opponent.

Author's note:  This piece was written prior to the Florida Supreme Court undervote count order.  Based on the events that followed that order, it can be said that the Democrats were finally chanting to have everyone's vote counted, while the Republicans were screaming follow the law.

Long answer:

For Partisans, It’s about Hypocrisy not Democracy

For weeks, Gore supporters have been screaming about all the votes that have never been counted because the machines did not read them and how important is to make sure we count every vote (even if it is just in four Democrat-leaning counties).  Moreover, they argue, that the will of the voter far outweighs any legal technicalities.

Nonsense, the Bush supporters say.  The votes have been counted twice by the machines, and if the machines don’t count it as a vote, then it ain’t a vote (unless of course you live in Seminole, Orange, Polk, Lafayette, or another of the 10 counties who manual canvassed ballots not read by machines because Florida law requires the canvassing of such votes).  Moreover, the law says that all the counting was supposed to stop on November 14th, and the law must be enforced.

Of course, most of this argument was tossed out the window when it came to counting military ballots.  Never mind that Florida law declares illegal any absentee ballot without a postmark on it, or anything else to indicate when the vote was cast.  Those ballots have votes on them cast by red-blooded Americans, the Bushies shout, and it is unconscionable to ignore those votes because of a legal technicality.  In dozens of counties, canvassing boards counted technically illegal absentee ballots that have never been counted before in an election.  Republicans are in court right now trying to force a count of those technically illegal votes in seven counties who decided to follow the law.

Meanwhile, Democrats are in court trying to have thousands of votes erased in Seminole County because, unbeknownst to the voters, someone tampered with their ballot applications.  The law is very strict about ballot applications, they say, and in order to honor those laws we must disregard the will of the voter that resulted from those applications (and if we can’t figure out which ones those are, then throw out all the absentee ballots from Seminole County).

Nonsense, the Republicans say.  Those ballots contain the will of the people, and they can’t be silenced because of some legal technicality.

And just when you thought the hypocrisy could not get any more embarrassing, we find that on the same day that Republicans are using the “will of the voter” argument to overcome the Democrats “legal technicality” argument in a Circuit Court, the Bushies were in Federal Court arguing that the law must be followed and no more votes should be counted, while the Goreites once again toted out their mantra of count every vote and let the will of the voter determine this election (or at least the voters in Dade County).

Confused?  I will some it up for you.  When it comes to Dade, Palm Beach, Broward, and Volusia counties, the Goreites say count every vote and let the will of the voter be heard, to which the Bushies say follow the law.  When it comes to military ballots and absentee ballots in Martin and Seminole County, the Bushies say let every vote count and let the will of the voter be heard, to which the Gorites say follow the law.

While it is unclear who really won Florida, the following is crystal clear: loyalists from both parties have shown that the will of the voter only matters when it may mean more votes for their candidate, and the law only matters when it may silence the will of voters who probably favored their candidate’s opponent.

No one on either side has fought for what Democracy suggests and what Florida Law dictates about counting votes --  “no vote shall be declared invalid or void if there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter.”  Whether it takes machines or people, every ballot with a clear vote on it was legally supposed to be counted in Florida.  No one has fought to get counted the tens of thousands of ballots across the state that have never been counted, not once.  The very same types of ballots that were counted this year in a close election in Smith County, Texas.  Alas, the Florida vote count has never been about achieving the fairness or accuracy necessary to tell who won the campaign; it has always been a win at all cost campaign by both campaigns to make sure your side wins the election by trying to get certain votes counted and certain votes rejected.