More Irregularities Alleged in Florida Vote

Nov. 8 -- With the presidential race between Democratic Vice President Al Gore and Republican Texas Gov. George W. Bush still undecided, Democratic party officials are complaining of voter intimidation, possible tampering and other irregularities in winner-takes-all Florida.

Florida votes for the election will be re-tallied because of the extremely narrow difference in totals between the two candidates, which found Bush slightly in the lead in the state. With those votes, Bush would take the election.

A margin of as little as 100 or as many as 1,000 votes separated Bush and Gore. That margin falls well within the one half of 1 percent of the vote needed to call for a recount under Florida state law.

In an attempt to avoid partisan politics as part of the analysis of the recount, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of George, recused himself from certifying the results. He made the announcement in an afternoon press conference today. Robert Butterworth, Democratic Attorney General of Florida, who also spoke at the event said he knew the world was watching what was happening in his state.

But Democratic Party officials say they’re concerned about numerous reports of irregularities in Florida voting that may cost Vice President Gore enough votes to lose the election. (if you witnessed one tell us)

According to Bob Poe, Chairman for the Florida Democratic Party, reported irregularities include many accounts of confusion on balloting in Palm Beach that may have caused some voters to select unintended candidates.

But they also include, he said, lesser known reports of possible voter intimidation in certain African-American precincts and possibly thousands of lost votes due to a possible computer glitch.

“There are a lot of questions here, there are a lot of angry Floridians,” Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jenny Backus said today. “People are talking about taking away somebody’s constitutional right to vote, there are thousands, literally thousands of reports of irregularities.”

Jesse Jackson said he got calls on Election Day complaining that blacks had difficulty votingin Florida and other southern states. Jackson said some voters were told there were no more ballots, or that polls were closed. “What we need is not just a recount by hand, but also a thorough investigation, ” Jackson said.

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Intimidation Alleged

Poe told ABCNEWS.com Democrats had received reports of intimidation of voters in the largely African-American precincts of Wakulla County on the Florida panhandle.

Reports suggest “highway patrol troopers were stationed outside of those precincts with lights flashing and ticketing people,” he said. “It was bizarre, it was like going back into the early 1900s,” he said.  

“Even in a tiny town like Wakulla and those African-American precincts, that could account for the 2,000 [Gore votes] right there,” he said.

Vanishing Votes in Volusia?

Poe also said party officials are concerned thousands of votes for Gore may have been omitted from the Democrat’s vote total in Volusia County, a largely African-American community located on the east coast and central part of Florida.

According to a Volusia County official, a problem was found with a computer disk that contained results from a particular precinct, but county officials have not yet said specifically what the impact was.