More Irregularities Alleged in Florida Vote
Nov. 8, 2000 -- 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.
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.
Poe said Democrats had received reports of an instance in which a preliminary voting count this morning for Gore in Volusia County, reported by Florida election officials, actually decreased by about 10,000 over time, before climbing again.
“Now that might have been a typo, who knows,” he told ABCNEWS.com. “Stranger things have happened in Volusia County.”
The alleged decrease may also have been detected by Miles Gibson, a Ph.D. candidate and instructor at the University of Virginia, who says he recorded 2,716,995 votes for Gore in Florida at 2:06 a.m. this morning and then 2,707,798 votes for Gore at around 2:15 a.m., while following the NBC national newscast.
“I can’t certify these numbers, but I was paying extremely careful attention,” Gibson said.
ABCNEWS reported the same figures. At around 2:04 A.M., the network gave Gore 2,716,995 votes in Florida. About ten minutes laters, the network said Gore had 2,707,798.
ABCNEWS drew its data from Voter News Service, a consortium created by the networks to share raw polling data.
Michael McDermott, a Volusia county court judge said today there is nothing to indicate Volusia’s unofficial vote count is flawed or that appropriate procedures were not followed.
The county’s election Canvassing Board met today to discuss the matter and the judge directed that three members representing the Democratic and Republican parties be present.
Officials have begun recounting all of the county’s votes and expect to be finished by close of business Thursday.
McDermott also ordered Volusia’s election office secured, The Associated Press reported. It was sealed with crime tape, and all ballots were locked in the office vault.
“We will be doing everything it takes to make sure the public has full confidence in the ballot count here,” McDermott said.
“We’re hearing all sorts of things. Right now we’re trying to sift through what’s true and, you know, this is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen,” said Poe.
Buchanan Ballot Blunder?
Analysts also are reporting possible questionable practices. “There have been reports of irregularities,” says ABCNEWS Political Director Mark Halperin. “Florida is a big, sprawling state with a pretty fabled political history in terms of, in some parts of the state, voting irregularities.”
But so far, federal authorities tell ABCNEWS.com they’ve seen no irregularities so far that warrant a federal investigation.
Democratic Party officials also have said sample ballots handed to Florida voters by volunteers as they entered the polling places in precincts in Palm Beach listed the candidates in a different order than what voters saw in the voting booths.
The result, they said, was voters who referenced the sample ballots to cast their votes may have voted for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan when they thought they were voting for Gore.
The Democratic National Committee said it started receiving complaints from voters that the actual ballot was very confusing. Basically, voters said, the hole punch for Gore on the ballot was so close to that of Buchanan that many voters weren’t sure who they had voted for.
“By Gore there were two holes … I had to figure out which one,” said voter Lena Fransetta. “I asked one of the ladies for help and she didn’t know. When I left I figured out I voted wrong.”
Another voter, May Cohen, said, “I don’t know if I voted wrong … Republicans had only one hole, Gore-Lieberman had two. I think I did right, but it was very confusing.”
DNC officials reacted immediately by calling the county supervisor, trying to put up signs, or designate a phone number for those who felt they may have voted the wrong way. The director of Florida’s Division of Elections, Clay Roberts, said there was nothing wrong or unlawful with ballots in the state.
DNC at one point also claimed nine ballot boxes were missing in Broward County, which recorded approximately 571,000 votes, but later reported the boxes were recovered and were being counted.
They said they had no information on how the boxes were lost or how they were found. Ed Cast of the Florida Elections Committee said the boxes were never really missing. “There was a slight mishap, but they have been sitting at the supervisor’s office,” Cast said.
Still, the DNC in Florida has indicated it will send lawyers to file a court petition for a recount if there is a controversy over the outcome.
GOP Investigating Reports
Republican National Committee spokesman Tom Yu said party officials were aware of the reports of voter tampering and irregularities and that they were investigating.
“I’ve heard rumors but I can’t confirm any of those rumors yet and I think at this point our people are looking into those rumors and trying to track down if they are true,” Yu said.
In response to the reports of voter confusion at Palm Beach, Yu warned against jumping to any conclusions about rumored voting irregularities.
“We’re investigating the irregularities and if those irregularities do exist then, let’s find the source and try to rectify them,” he said. “At this point I think it’s an investigation that we don’t want to raise any undo excitement that isn’t warranted. We are looking into any of these irregularities and if they do prove to exist, the proper action will be taken.”
Voting Shenanigans Elsewhere
DNC spokeswoman Backus said Tuesday some New York voters were turned away from some polling places, discouraged from voting altogether, and possibly confused into voting unintentionally for a candidate they didn’t really want.
However, given the large victory margins for Democrats in New York, it is unlikely any alleged tampering had any impact on the races.
Backus also said the DNC’s Web site was hacked Monday night and that its e-mail server crashed because it received a large wave of messages. The system was back up and running by 10 a.m. Tuesday.
“This just brings shame to the election process,” she said.
Hackers also targeted the GOP’s Web site. Hours before polls opened, RNC spokesman Yu said, the GOP’s site was replaced by a lengthy anti-Bush tirade.
While saying his message was not endorsed by either party, the unidentified hacker left a link to Gore’s campaign site and wrote, “George W. Bush would make a great president for those states which traffic not so much in decency but bigotry. Not acceptance but hate. Not love but fear.”
Possibly More False Information
Democratic Party officials also alleged voters were intimidated and misinformed before entering voting booths in states including Missouri, Michigan, Iowa, and Kansas. Democratic officials relayed unconfirmed reports from Iowa of senior citizens receiving telephone calls telling them they could not vote unless specifically registered for the election.
“This isn’t true,” said Backus. It’s “designed to confuse seniors and keep them from voting for Al Gore … We won’t stand for it and challenge the other side to stand up as well.”
In West Virginia, according to officials, voters were receiving calls from a Republican phone bank in California falsely telling them Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., had not endorsed Gore.
In fact, said Gore National spokesman Doug Hattaway, “it’s the first time he has endorsed a Democrat for president since 1964, when he endorsed Lyndon Johnson.”
In an incident not described by Democratic officials, Kansas’ state government is looking into telephone calls made to some residents giving false information about the state’s electionlaws, according to The Associated Press.
Democrats had reported getting recorded messages Monday night incorrectly telling them they must bring voter registration cards to polling places to be allowed to cast a ballot, the AP reported.
The campaign of Rep. Dennis Moore, a Democrat seeking re-election in the 3rd Congressional District, had contacted the FBI this morning about the phone calls.
Moore’s office played the message for the AP: “Failure to comply with election law is serious business, so make sure you have your card and do it right.”
Attempts to Extend Poll Closings
Meanwhile, Democrats in various states Tuesday night tried unsuccessfully to get polls to stay open later to accommodate long lines of voters. In St. Louis, just an hour before polls were set to close, a judge ordered them to stay open three hours past their closing time — until 10 p.m. local time — to accommodate the heavy turnout.
Democrats who sought the extension cited long lines and a shortage of booths, ballots, judges and other equipment. Judge Evelyn M. Baker said the Board of Election Commissioners “failed to live up to its duty to the voters of the city.”
However, 45 minutes after the ruling, a three-judge panel in the Missouri Court of Appeals overturned Baker’s decision and ordered the polls closed at once. Similar filings to keep polls open were denied in Madison and Milwaukee, Wis., Portland, Me., and Detroit.
ABCNEWS.com’s David Ruppe, Kendra Gahagan, Bryan Robinson, Dorian Benkoil and Elizabeth McCorry contributed to this report.