November 11, 2000

11:35 PM

Ok, lastly - Why not hand-recount this?
posted by tiaka (10 comments total)

Could it be because of this? (from the article):


Mike Langton, chairman of the northeast Florida Gore campaign, reacted angrily to news of the 26,000 nullified votes. He said he had learned of them too late to ask for a manual recount, which under Florida law must be requested within 72 hours of the election.

He said Stafford had told him only 200 to 300 votes were nullified. Johnson said Langton had misunderstood what Stafford had said.

"I sure as hell would have requested a manual recount if I had known 27,000 votes were nullified," Langton said. "We were harmed because we didn't find out in time to ask for a recount."

posted by aurelian at 11:51 PM on November 11, 2000

I loved the fact that Duval county, using the same butterfly ballot that PBC and Cook County used, had a two-page presidential ballot. "Turn page for more candidates" ... ?!

Love to know who was on which page, and how they got there. Were they in order of the parties' standing in the last race for Governor, as FL law states?
posted by dhartung at 1:01 AM on November 12, 2000

Yeah, sounds like it was even more confusing than the Palm Beach one. But it also sounds like there weren't complaints on election day.
posted by kidsplateusa at 6:41 AM on November 12, 2000

I live in Duval. Heard nary a complaint about it from anyone.

Of course, it's easy for the Gore guy to bluff and bluster about how upset he is that he wasn't notified, now that there's no chance of a recount---if there were, I can promise you that most of those nullified ballots would be for Bush.
posted by Sapphireblue at 8:50 AM on November 12, 2000

ummm, assuming one could tell the intent of those who voted twice :)
posted by Sapphireblue at 8:51 AM on November 12, 2000

I live in Duval. Heard nary a complaint about it from anyone.

I guess 26,000 nullified ballots, if true, is considered small potatos in the fast-paced world of election ballot counting. Makes you wonder what past performance both in Florida and elsewhere has looked like.
posted by leo at 10:53 AM on November 12, 2000

I don't know why GaGa Gore and BaBushkie are fighting over who wins this election. Haven't they heard of Tecumseh's Curse? No Great Chief elected in a year ending in zero has escaped this sinister spell. Even assisted by his beloved astrologist NecroNancy the Great Chief Ronnie Running Debt partially succumbed to its magic. George DubDah Bush, with his great love of firewater, could surely face this ancient warrior's wrath.
posted by Poop(*)Head at 11:59 AM on November 12, 2000

oops, no, I mean, I heard no complaints about the style of the ballot. I'm not for a second saying that the will of 26,000 people who cared enough to try to vote is "small potatoes"!
posted by Sapphireblue at 5:37 PM on November 12, 2000

Well, I have an unverified report that the 19,000 double punched ballots in PBC were Gore/Buchanan, mostly; that would seem to rule out the "most of those ... would be for Bush" idea pretty quickly. Does anyone have documentary evidence on that topic?

And has anyone noticed that the Gore people are arguing mostly facts, and the Bush people mostly emotions? Or is that just me?

Me?

I voted for Browne, and I'll be right back there to do it again if there's a re-vote called.
posted by baylink at 8:02 PM on November 12, 2000

Well, SB, I'm sure there was whole lot of people who heard nary a complaint. So it's not just to single you out. What strikes me is how strange this is -- 26,000 votes being tossed out and all. Makes me wonder how many they toss out in Manhattan -- that showpiece of organization -- a couple million?
posted by leo at 7:28 AM on November 13, 2000