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Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris: 'I just followed the law'

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris said Tuesday she simply "followed the law" in certifying the state's 25 electoral votes for Republican George W. Bush, which gave him the majority needed to win the White House.

In an interview on CNN's Larry King Live, Harris said the personal attacks directed her way in the five weeks following Election Day were "difficult."

"But when it comes to carrying out the law, or upholding the oath that we swore, that's not difficult," she said, referring to her decisions in the election aftermath.

Harris also addressed the issue of black voters who complained they were disenfranchised in the election, the subject of a recent U.S. Civil Rights Commission hearing.

"Let me just say this: Florida's always been a very progressive state and we have a zero tolerance policy towards discrimination whether it be for race, or creed, or gender or age," she said. "And so, of course we'll look into these allegations and we will thoroughly follow up on them, we'll thoroughly investigate them."

Harris -- who served as co-chairwoman of Bush's presidential campaign in Florida -- corrected erroneous reports that her office would be eliminated in 2003, saying that a 1998 voter referendum had decided that the governor will then appoint several cabinet secretaries, or combine some of the positions, and the post of secretary of state will fall into one of those categories.

She said in the meantime, she will work to improve Florida's voting system, even going to Washington to fight for federal funding if necessary.

"I couldn't possibly leave until I had the assurance that we'll have the model of systems in the country," she said. "My strongest will... would be to choose a system that will make the will of the voter self-evident."

A large part of the problem in the aftermath of the election turned out to be faulty voting machines using punch-card ballots. Old or defective machines prevented the cards' chads from being punched cleanly through, resulting in massive recounts and thousands of ballots not being counted as votes for either candidate.

But Harris hinted that she may run for some other public office in Florida after her term as secretary of state comes to an end.

"I really do like public service, it gives me a chance to give back," she said. In the near future, Harris said she will attend the inauguration of President-elect Bush, and attend parties surrounding the event.

If she had to do it all over again, the secretary of state said, she might try to give better and more frequent explanations for her actions so people would understand why she did what she did.

"But I was trying to limit my appearances so that it wouldn't be about me," Harris said. She said one thing that particularly bothered her was the comments directed at her make-up.

"When I was in Tallahassee, and I'd watch my -- the men, who went to be on TV, and speak, they had on three times as much makeup as I ever had, and the press said nothing about them," Harris said.

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