ASHINGTON - Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph I. Lieberman said yesterday that Republican demonstrations in Miami-Dade County this week were ''designed to intimidate'' election officials hand-counting disputed ballots in the heavily Democratic county.
''These demonstrations are a disservice to our democracy,'' Lieberman said in a brief news conference at the vice president's residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory. ''We need a fair count of the ballots in question, and that must include freedom from intimidation.''
Lieberman said he and Vice President Al Gore were calling on ''the demonstrators, and all who may be organizing or encouraging them, to stop these activities immediately.''
He added that he and Gore hoped Republican candidate George W. Bush's campaign would join the call.
But the Texas governor's campaign dismissed Lieberman's criticism. ''I don't recall Senator Lieberman opposing Jesse Jackson's organized protests orchestrated with the AFL-CIO in Palm Beach County,'' said Bush campaign spokesman Ari Fleischer. ''This is the latest example of the Gore campaign saying one thing and doing another.''
Lieberman made his comments amid Democratic complaints that Republican protesters had intimidated the Miami-Dade canvassing board into halting hand recounts Wednesday.
At one point during the counting, GOP protesters, some from out of town, pushed and shoved in attempts to get to the canvassing board, as police held them back. Others shoved on the door and shouted, ''Voter fraud.''
The canvassing board denied any political motive for halting the count, saying instead it was impossible to meet tomorrow's deadline, set by Florida's Supreme Court.
The court on Thursday unanimously rejected Gore's attempt to compel the county to resume the hand recount or at least make officials include Gore's 157-vote gain in the tally.
''These demonstrations were clearly designed to intimidate and to prevent a simple count of votes from going forward,'' Lieberman said.
''This is a time to honor the rule of law, not surrender to the rule of the mob.''
He expressed concern that the demonstrations would move to nearby Broward County, where a hand count is underway.
