The 20000 presidential election remains and has been described by many as one of the worst scandals of the US democracy (Jacobson and Rosenfeld, 2002). The democratic contestant Albert Gore won a large number of votes than his Republican opponent, but he ended up losing the presidency bid (Montjoy & Slaton, 2005). The result of all this relied greatly on the vote tally in Florida whereby a great figure of voters were denied the vote, confusing butterfly ballots were used, vote recounts were mishandled as well as manipulated. The last verdict regarding the election was made by a 5-4 majority of the unelected U.S Supreme Court that issued a tainted as well as an adherent ruling (Heppermann & Friedman, 2013). The American constitutional structure
It doesn’t take a political expert to see that the 2000 presidential election between Bush and Gore was extremely illegitimate. This can be observed through the recount incident which took place in the state of Florida. Many people, especially seniors, felt that they had not voted for the right candidate, which was due to a confusing ballot setup. The ballots were called “butterfly ballots”. These ballots, as one could imagine, had candidates on either side which the voter could choose from. Seems simple enough, right? Unfortunately, that was not the case. The font on the ballots were extremely minuscule, as well as condensed. To add to that, the voter had to use a pin to make a puncture next to their selection. Some people, who were either
The presidential election of 2000 is the most controversial election in US history and led to a Supreme Court case between the two candidates, George W. Bush and Al Gore. Bush v. Gore has forever tainted the election and the integrity of the Supreme Court.
The outcome of the 2016 election left many Americans feeling confused, angry, cheated, and terrified of the future. Somehow, the sexist, racist, homophobic candidate Donald Trump had become the nation’s president, though Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton received the majority of popular vote. This raised many questions over the constitutionality of the Electoral College system, and whether it was unfair to the people of the United States. In the electoral system, created by the Founding Fathers due to their lack of trust in the people, the constituents of each state vote for their preferred candidate, and all of the state’s electoral votes go to the candidate with a majority. Clearly, the Electoral
The 2000 President Election isn’t considered to be the typical election that occurs every four years in our society. I am opening up the discussion of this important topic in American presidential history by first sharing a fact that not many people may know: there have been three previous presidential elections in which one candidate won the popular vote but not the electoral vote and lost the election. The 2000 Presidential Election was considered to be one of the most highly contested elections in presidential election history (Summary). The election was between Governor George W. Bush (R-TX) and Vice President Al Gore (D-TN). On Election Day night, news stations across the country were all giving an early win of Florida to Gore and
Several times in the US history, a president has won the election even without winning the overall national vote as George W. Bush did in 2000. To the other countries that practice no such electoral process, this might seem very unusual and hard to understand. Apparently, they are not alone because some Americans also feel that there needs to be a change to the constitutional provision as they feel it undermine their democracy and the overall
The election of 2000 was legitimate and I think George W. Bush won that election fair and square. He won the election because all the votes that were recounted were still in his favor and the votes were greater than Al Gore’s votes.For example, according to the legislature of Florida ninety-nine percent of the ballots were recounted and the votes ended up being higher than the recounted votes for Al Gore.In addition, Bush won the electoral college vote even with the recount which proves that this election was legitimate. Another reason why I think that Bush won this election was because some democratic voters did not correctly fill in their vote or they changed their vote before turning in the ballot.The issue of Palm Beach County in Florida,
One of the biggest proponents of the direct vote was future President James Madison, who, despite his concerns over unfairness to the underpopulated southern states, felt that since one of the President’s jobs was to guard the people from the legislature, he should be elected by the people he is guarding. (Pierce 41). It was generally believed, however, that the people were essentially misinformed and easily confused and misled. Despite being voted down on two separate occasions, the direct vote system did demonstrate the hazards of the legislature selecting the president. (Pierce 41)
People went to bed one night thinking that Gore had won, but when they woke up they found out that bush had won with Florida’s twenty-five electoral votes. It happened on November 7, 2000. Bush charged that the recounts in Florida broke the rules of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. A 7-2 majority ruled that the Florida recount was being conducted unconstitutionally. The case was covered in controversy as the Majority versus minority opinion on the redress was split along the lines of the more reactionary justices voting in favor of Bush and the more liberal justices voting in favor of Gore. The minority disunity noted these issues and other including the principle of equality and
still attached to the ballot in some way. As a result of these complications in
In the Albert Gorse versus George Bush election of 2000, Albert Gorse won the popular vote by 547,398 votes. However, George Bush won the election because of the Electoral College process. Normally, the winner of the popular vote wins the office or election. However, during this election it was not the case. Albert Gore did not win by a landslide; nevertheless, he still won the popular vote (Deatrick, 2012). While the typical American citizen may say that this one case is insignificant compared to the other elections, the significance recides in the mind of the person who was running for President and for the American citizens who voted for their
George Bush’s eventual triumph exposed everything: the pain of winner-takes all allocation of electors in 48 of the 50 states; the hazards of the electoral college, where if three electors with cold feet had votes for Al Gore instead of Bush then he would have won the presidency, Florida recount be damn; but, above all, the injustice of a system wherein the popular vote winner can lose.” There have been an alarming number of instances where the Electoral College set back the country due to the problems it has caused, and will continue to cause if it’s not replaced.
The United States Presidential elections are often events that captivate and interest a number of people around the world. The 2000 U.S. presidential election was particularly notable for more than one reason. Certainly, the fact that an election year in the year 2000, the marking of the next millennium and next century, is significant in of itself. In addition, there were a number of critical issues facing the candidates in this election, as with any election. The role, presence, and influence of the United States media were additional factors that heightened the tension of the 2000 presidential election. The election itself was fraught with controversy. The Supreme Court had to be involved and render a ruling with respect to accusation of fraudulent vote counting. Overall, the 2000 United States Presidential Election is an election that is remembered for controversy, polarization of the American public, as well as issues of confusion and mistrust between the American public and the American government.
As in the past, the media was covering the all important election. They had always relied on exit polls as the polls closed across the nation. In reality, the Florida results were just too close to call. Nevertheless, that did not stop the media from doing so. Not once, but twice, major news media outlets were erroneous in their report. Around 8pm, it was declared that Al Gore was the projected winner of the electoral votes in the state of Florida. However, a couple of hours later, the projection was retracted and restated as Florida as being too close to call. Then, just after 2am on November 8, the mistake was made for a second time. The major networks declared George W. as the winner. This even led to Al Gore calling the Governor to concede. However, as Gore prepared to address his supporters in Nashville, Tennessee, he was alert to the shrinking numbers in Bush¡¦s lead. The final total was now less than one half of a percent lead in favor of Bush. That immediately calls for a recount of votes under state law. Subsequently, Gore called Bush and retracted his concession. It wasn¡¦t over yet! One thing was, Al Gore had prevailed in the popular vote but without Florida¡¦s tally, the electoral vote was up in the air. The election wasn¡¦t over and the recounts began.
The 2000 presidential election was a major eye opener for many people. As it appeared to also be the dismay of many, the candidate who won the most popular votes nationwide actually lost the contest. In the election's risen moment, popular attention centered around the Electoral College and its role in the presidential election. Under the U.S. Constitution, the people did not necessarily direct vote for the President in a nationwide election; rather, the people in each state would vote for electors from that state, who in turn would cast the constitutionally decisive votes for President and Vice President. Moreover, not only is the people's influence indirect, the Electoral College's voting pattern does not necessarily track the national popular
The election of 2000 was a very tight battle. This particular election came down to the state of Florida. Florida had 25 electoral votes at the time, so this state was extremely important. Nationwide, Al Gore lead George W. Bush by roughly 500,000 votes. This may seem like a large margin, but the race was not over. Gore still needed the correct amount of electoral votes. Ultimately, Bush won the election and served two terms as President of the United States. If you take a look at the numbers and the specific circumstances of this race, it is hard to believe that this race was legitimate. First and foremost, the state of Florida purged 20,000 registered voters and did not allow them cast their votes. Normally, this would affect both candidates.