1. Florida Recount The 2000 Election “FLORIDAGATE”

2. Summary of Events… Nov. 7 th 2000 ELECTION DAY- Everyone knew…the race would be tight. But what they didn’t expect was that the winner would not be known for the next 5 weeks.

3. Summary of Events Early on the evening of Nov. 7 th : The election was hinged on one state:

4. Summary of Events By approximately 9 PM that evening, the news networks projected that GORE was winning Florida…and would become the next President. Networks used “exit polls” to make their call on who was winning the election.

5. Summary of Events Early morning (Nov. 8 th now) FOX news calls the election in favour Bush Other news networks also then followed. By 3AM, Gore was ready to concede the election but………..

6. Summary of Events Gore’s campaign advisors noticed VOTING IRREGULARITIES in many voting districts in Florida. By 3:45AM Gore announces that he wants a RECOUNT in Florida…the drama begins!

7. Voting IRREGULARITIES 1.BUTTERFLY BALLOT Can you see the confusion? Who do you think would be “confused”?

8. Voting IRREGULARITIES 2.The PUNCH CARD/CHAD “CHADS” are a paper ballot whereby a voter will “PUNCH” a hole into the paper next to their desired selection. The CHAD is then placed in a reader that reads which holes have been punched and generates a result.

9. The HANGING CHAD Unfortunately, the CHAD system was not reliable. Below are the irregularities of this system: 1.Hanging Chad- punch hole hangs from one side of the ballot 2.Swinging Chad- punch hole hangs from two sides 3.Tri-Chad- punch hole hangs from three corners 4.DIMPLED Chad- hole was not punched but the voter placed a “dimple”

10. African-American DISENFRANCHISEMENT In Florida, “black” voters were 10 times more likely to be “disenfranchised” from voting than whites…that is, were denied the vote from the “system”. To vote, you must be registered…you could be denied registry if you are in jail or are a felon… Many African-Americas in Florida, whose names were “similar” to criminals were removed from the voter rolls…

11. How were they removed? If a criminal in a Florida penitentiary named Jonathan Franklin…he would be removed from the list…and…. If someone living beyond the prison walls had the same name and or was named JOHN Franklin, they would have their name removed…

12. The Problem then was……?

13. Should there be a RECOUNT? A central figure in this was Katherine Harris…the secretary of state of Florida As Secretary of State, she “represented” the state in any federal issues…the position is symbolic but here was a case of being at the right place at the right time

14. Recount denied.. Originally, Harris denied a recount…this was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court which allowed recounts in selected voting districts… The result…Gore narrowed the slim lead held by Bush

15. Timeline of the recount The recount continued until it was appealed and then stopped…this would continue well into December. Bush’s initial lead in Florida was 2000 votes…by the time the “INCOMPLETE RECOUNT” was halted by the Supreme Court (the lead was narrowed to 154 votes…)

16. Gore Concedes Dec. 12 th 2000 (5 WEEKS after the vote) Gore…statesstates Bush’s…acceptanceacceptance

17. The Aftermath… How would such an election affect the future of America?