Both sides arming for recounts, challenges

• Obama and Romney will have thousands of volunteer lawyers standing by on Election Day
• If it's close, a legal battle could go on for weeks. A recount in Ohio can't begin until Dec. 2
• Republicans have $5.2 million in their recount fund. Democrats have $807,400

WASHINGTON -- The legal briefs are already written, just waiting for a few blanks to be filled in. Hundreds of volunteer lawyers stand ready to run to the courthouse to file them.

If there's a problem on Election Day -- or if election night fails to produce a clear winner -- both President Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney are prepared to take the 2012 presidential campaign from the ballot box to the courts.

It's an effort that could cost millions of dollars and require thousands of lawyers, law students and paralegals. But ever since the 2000 presidential election hung on a few hundred ballot chads in Florida, the recount team is as integral to the modern campaign as attack ads and early voting.

"Whenever you have a contested election in Ohio, both sides need armies of lawyers standing by to cover 88 counties and a million different possibilities," said Mark Weaver, a veteran election lawyer who's co-chairing Romney's legal team in Ohio.

Among those possibilities: long lines at polling places, voting machine malfunctions, allegations of voter intimidation and challenges to the legitimacy of absentee and "provisional" votes.

Neither campaign would discuss its recount contingency plan in depth. But with hours or even minutes crucial to making every vote count, both sides certainly have a legal playbook covering every conceivable situation.

"One thing both sides are thinking about is what court to file in, state or federal? And do you go to court, or do you work through the administrative process?" said Edward Foley, who directs the election law institute at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. "And they have different strategies based on if they're up or if they're behind."

Those strategies even extend to the candidates' election night speeches. No longer can a candidate be prepared with just a victory speech and a concession speech. One of the lessons of Florida is that the candidate's words have to be clear and consistent even if the vote-counting isn't.

Foley cautions campaigns to be careful how they use the word "recount" -- especially if they're behind by a few thousand votes in a decisive swing state. In Ohio, for example, all the votes aren't officially counted until after Nov. 16 -- when all absentee ballots are received and disputes over provisional ballots are resolved. The soonest a recount could begin is Dec. 2. The electoral college meets Dec. 17.

Both campaigns have battle-hardened veterans leading their legal teams. Romney has Ben Ginsberg, who led George W. Bush's successful effort to win the Florida vote in 2000. Obama has his former White House counsel, Bob Bauer, whose background is in election law and who headed up voter protection efforts for Democrats in 2004.

If there is a prolonged and expensive recount battle, Republicans have deeper pockets. The Republican National Committee has taken more than $5.2 million in contributions into a special recount fund, according to a USA TODAY analysis of campaign finance reports. The Democratic National Committee had $807,400 through Oct. 1.

Contributors to the GOP's recount effort include casino owner Sheldon Adelson and discount brokerage founder Charles Schwab. Democratic efforts are supported by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg, among others.

But if there is a contested election, the campaigns will spare no expense and figure out how to pay for it later, said Trevor Potter, the former Federal Election Commission chairman who served as the top lawyer to Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential bid.

"They'll expect a lot of volunteer legal services from people who are dedicated to the candidate and may want to serve in the next president's administration," Potter said. "That's the pattern from Florida."

Obama has been aggressively recruiting volunteer lawyers, paralegals and even law students. Election lawsuits are fact-intensive, and poll watchers are needed in every county in every swing state to watch for problems.

But there's another reason why both sides have assembled deep legal teams. "You want a lawyer who knows that area," Weaver said. "The old saying is true. 'Good lawyers know the law. Great lawyers know the law and the judge.' "