Democrats to field 5,000 lawyers in Key states to ensure the Republicans do not “steal” the election

International     Democrats to field 5,000 lawyers in Florida Ewen MacAskill To ensure Republicans do not “steal” the election They will help voters denied a ballot on spurious grounds or fight to keep polling stations open The Republicans plan to send their volunteer-advocates too Orlando: A team of 5,000 volunteer lawyers representing the Democrats will fan out across polling stations in Florida next Tuesday to , as — Democrats claim — George Bush did eight years ago. Heading the biggest team of lawyers ever assembled is Charles Lichtman, a partner in the Fort Lauderdale law firm Berger Singerman, who has been working as an unpaid volunteer for up to 18 hours a day since August. His drive comes from the experience of being what he describes as “the Hanging Chad Guy,” leading a group of lawyers based in the infamous Broward County for weeks during the recount in 2000. “Legitimate votes of citizens did not get counted. If they had been counted, we would not have been in Iraq and the economy would not have tanked,” said Mr. Lichtman (53), who is from Chicago. He vowed he would do his best to ensure it never happened again and began planning the operation that will be in place on November 4. Democrat Barack Obama’s campaign team has recruited thousands of volunteer lawyers to attend polling stations in battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, and other states where the vote could be close. But the biggest push is in Florida, in part because of its history and also because polls suggest the vote will be tight.  more