Can Florida Avoid Another Election Day Meltdown?
Like a man revisiting the scene of a bad car wreck, former Vice President Al Gore came to Palm Beach County, Fla., on Friday. Palm Beach, you may recall, is where butterfly ballots, hanging chads and other election catastrophes helped thwart Gore’s efforts to win Florida’s electoral votes and the presidency in 2000. That bizarre recount drama gave the White House to George W. Bush by just 537 ballots. This time Gore was stumping for Barack Obama, but memories of the 2000 debacle were surely not forgotten, especially since Palm Beach keeps experiencing electoral mishaps. The county is using a third voting technology in as many presidential elections, and its first two outings this year weren’t encouraging: 697 votes uncounted in one municipal election, and 3,500 missing during the recount of a judge’s race. That doesn’t mean Florida the nation’s largest swing state, with 27 electoral votes is again headed for a 2000-style disaster. The Sunshine State seems to have instituted enough chan
Related Questions
- If there is no resolution to the Florida election by December 18 (the date set for the Electoral College to meet), will Floridas voters be left out of the selection of the president?
- Given that an automatic recount already was triggered by the closeness of the Florida election, why is there yet another recount being undertaken in certain counties?
- Is Scientology an Election Issue in Florida?
