Recount Documentary Analysis

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.

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 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

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,

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

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 night of the election it seemed as if the Vice President and candidate for the Democratic Party was poised for a close victor. As the polls closed along the eastern seaboard, exit polling information indicated a clear, but narrow lead for the Vice President as he still need to secure Florida and two states totaling 15 electoral votes or more to win the Presidency (Toobin, 18). At 7:49 EST, NBC called Florida and the election for Gore, and so did 2 of the 4 major television networks did the same in the following minutes. As the night continued Gore secured Minnesota and New Mexico, but confusion in exit polling data had led to a premature call for Gore (18, Toobin). As the red eye hours of the morning continued all four media outlets reported a flood of data from Volusia County, Daytona Beach put Bush up by more than 50,000 votes, thus the media outlets followed suit and eventually called Florida for Bush. Although a questionable disappearance of

Some of the recount controversy was about the hanging chads or the butterfly ballot which caused some voters voted for a third party, but didn't mean to. All five news networks (NBC, CBS, FOX, and ABC) all made incorrect guesses to who was president. They all assumed that the poles in Florida closed at 7:00 p.m but they didn’t. Senator Daryl Jones said they that was roadblocks they could keep

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.

A night of controversy as the 2000 presidential election begins. The news calms a winner, but then calls it to close. The Florida Supreme Court calls for a recount, but not in the whole state. The U.S Supreme Court says that there will not be a recount and Bush is president, but this ruling is only in this case. The democrats don’t want to go to court, but the republicans do.

Everything from the machinations of the party to the actions of their voters, such as the riots that had slowed the recount and thus eliminated what precious little time it was allowed[3,4], lead to the slow yet eventual death of Gore’s chance at the presidency. The entirety of the affair was rigged in opposition of the Democrats, yet even so the race was considered

The election of 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore showed flaws in the electoral college voting system. For example, the US Supreme Court had to make decisions that have never been made before due to “irreparable harm”. In regards to Bush, irreparable harm meant that the court cases created by the Democratic Party were harming his election. The election was decided on the state of Florida. Originally, Bush won the state with 1,784 but the margin of victory was 0.3%. A machine recount begun and completed on 10 November, but most counties did not legitimately recount the ballots. Gore requested a hand recount and was given a deadline to complete all hand recounts by Katherine Harris, Secretary of State. Before the deadline was met, she declared

The Bush v. Gore election was legitimate, although close and scandalous and leans toward Bush to be the winner. Nevertheless, Gore's Florida senior adviser Nick Baldick, and the Republican senior adviser to Katherine Harris, John "Mac" Stipanovich -- that more voters went to the polls in Florida intending to vote for Al Gore than for George Bush. This statement could be due to the fact most of the voters who voted for Pat Buchanan did so by accident and meant to vote for Gore, making a dimpled chad, or voters intent. Bush still lead by .03% of the votes, meaning he had 2.909 million votes while Gore had 2.907 million, making it extremely close. However, Florida’s supreme courts, ruled by Democrats, gave Bush the win and was later solidified

The election in 2000 was a pivotal election for voters’ beliefs in the system of voting, over how we vote, who gets to vote, and will all of the votes be counted? In Florida in the year 2000, the voting problem was apparent throughout the day and night. People claimed that the lack of control and clarity is “an abomination of American justice.” Because of the poor planning and systems, Florida was forced to recount their election which brought out all of Florida’s voting problems to the American news. Throughout the dilemma, debates were being held between the United States Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court on the results of the many recounts.

After watching the movie I believe that the election between Bush and bush was legitimate. In the movie it shows Bush would have most likely won a Florida hand recount of undervotes. The movies also show Bush likely would have won a statewide recount of all undervotes and overvotes. Counting overvotes in which the intent of the voter was clear would have resulted in Bush winning the election.