Ground Zero of the Florida Vote Recount

A look at ground zero of the Florida vote recount -- Palm Beach County -- and at complaints of voting irregularities. Betty Ann Bowser reports from Palm Beach.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: By early this morning, Palm Beach County Democrats had compiled more than 5,000 affidavits from voters. Some complained their votes weren't counted; some said they were unfairly turned away from the polls on Tuesday by precinct workers. But, overwhelmingly, they complained the presidential ballot was confusing.

The confusing butterfly ballot

WOMAN: I never saw anything so confusing.

WOMAN: I'm from New Jersey, and I never saw anything like this.

WOMAN: It's absolutely ridiculous.

WOMAN: It is.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Bev Simon is an elementary school teacher who still isn't sure whether she voted for Vice President Gore or Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan.

BEV SIMON: The fact of the matter is, that it is very confusing. You're talking about the presidency of the United States, and that needs to be handled by a popular vote.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Do you want a chance to vote over again?

BEV SIMON: Oh, most definitely. And that's why I'm here today, because I feel that we have to be given the opportunity.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: And insurance executive Gerald Postin says he accidentally voted twice for President, which means his ballot was thrown out.

GERALD POSTIN: It is real confusing when you went to punch it and went to look at it. And I remember doing it and then I wanted to go back and there were so many people, I just said 'eh'.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: What happened to you? You punched it twice?

GERALD POSTIN: Yeah. I knew I was going to go back and ask for another card, but there were so many people waiting on line, I said forget about it. Then when I got home, I started thinking about it. I said wait a minute. That means my vote didn't count, you know. Gee, I better do something.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Republican leaders say the ballot was legal under state statutes and they argue only a handful of voters were confused at the polls. Mary McCarty is a Palm Beach County commissioner.

MARY McCARTY: Suddenly because the Democrats don't like the outcome of the election, we now have to throw our whole democratic process in turmoil. It undermines the whole basis of our democratic system. That is not how democracy works. And, regardless of what people say about confusion or whatever, it is the voter's responsibility to go in and do the right thing. And 450,000 people were able to figure it out in Palm Beach County.

(http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/july-dec00/palmbeach.html#)


I really enjoyed the movie we watched in class about the Florida recount, and I found this article with quotes from Florida voters. Since I am from Palm Beach County, I remember hearing a lot about the recount from my parents, but I didn't realize how close the race was for Florida's electoral votes.

I called my dad to see what he remembered about the 2000 election and the butterfly ballot. He voted in Palm Beach County, but he didn't find the ballot confusing. He remembered that King's Point, which is a neighborhood one block from my house, was one of the centers for protest against the ballots. I find it both interesting and a little embarrassing that I lived in Palm Beach County during the recount.

After researching the recount online, I came across a number of articles about the 2008 election. One article stated,"More than 3,000 optical-scan ballots have mysteriously disappeared since the county held an election last Tuesday." With all of the controversy that surrounded Palm Beach County during the 2000 election, it is hard to believe they would let something like this happen during the next election.

-Taylor Foley