The Legislature has given to the county canvassing boards -- and only these boards -- the authority to ascertain the intent of the voter.
Judge Burton, who was their witness, testified that they were able to identify 215 ballots where they could clearly ascertain the intent of the voters that had not been counted by the machines.
In Austin, Tex., Mr. Bush's spokeswoman, Karen P. Hughes, mocked the Florida vote-counters who "hold up ballots trying to see a glimmer of light, trying to ascertain the intent of a voter based on the tiniest pin prick".
We performed a series of tests of the pre-intervention surveys, first using paper questionnaires to ascertain the intent and clarity of the questions, then incorporating changes based on feedback from PCPs and patients, and we conducted additional testing in the online format to assess content and potential technical issues.
To add to the right of exclusive sale the authority to control all future retail sales, by a notice that such sales must be made at a fixed sum, would give a right not included in the terms of the statute, and, in our view, extend its operation, by construction, beyond its meaning, when interpreted with a view to ascertaining the legislative intent in its enactment.
'The exercise of ascertaining the facts was a serious one".
An uproar ensued, at which point I whipped out my BlackBerry and proposed I look up the origin of the dessert and ascertain the founders' original intent.
The law in these areas is uncertain enough that the Florida justices would have ground to reject the vice president's appeal even if they believe what his lawyers called "the undisputed evidence show[ing] that experts from both sides concluded that a manual review of contested ballots was necessary to ascertain the voter's intent".
"The court has abandoned all pretense of ascertaining congressional intent with respect to the Federal Arbitration Act, building instead, case by case, an edifice of its own creation," she wrote.
