Florida has always been an odd state. Before the invention of a malaria cure and air conditioning, an entire half of the state was uninhabitable. Back then, Florida was actually in the central time zone (and the panhandle still is). It is farther west than most think-Jacksonville, on the eastern coast, is due south of Cleveland, Ohio. It is home to more sex offenders than any other state in the U.S., including Ted Bundy and Paul Rubens. It is also home to such disparate entities as Disney World and Cape Canaveral, although both rely heavily on pyrotechnics to draw crowds.
Politically, Florida is fragmented into three distinct groups-northern, central, and southern. As you can pretty well guess, southern Florida is traditionally Democratic. Republican northern Florida may one day be annexed into South Georgia. That leaves central Florida: No Man's Land.
Too much information? Let's back up a little. In any election, there are natural errors-human, mechanical, etc. Most of the time, the winner is clear; that is, the inconsistencies don't affect the outcome of the vote. This time, however, things are very different, and each new snag in the process leaps out like a neon sign. Because the lead is so small, people are actively analyzing the discrepancies and trying hard to make them fit their own agenda. Gore's camp was the first to start doing this. Before the final counts were even in, Gore's chief campaign advisor, Bill Daley, and the head of his legal team, Warren Christopher, were on CNN threatening legal action and accusing the state of Florida of voter fraud. This was their first mistake.
So let's examine the discrepancies. The most important question is that of the Palm Beach County ballot itself. Not only was it designed and approved by a Democrat, it is similar to one used in Cook County, Illinois-Bill Daley's home county. Some people believe it is an illegal ballot; it is not. The Florida Secretary of State has declared that it is, in fact, totally legal.
Over 19,000 of these ballots were disqualified, most of them because they were marked twice. Though 19,000 may seem like a large number, in the 1996 election, 16,000 ballots were disqualified for the same reason. Greater voter turnout, like this year's, would lead to a greater number of disqualified ballots. What the Gore camp would have us believe is that 19,000 Gore voters were tricked into voting twice and that all of these ballots should be counted as votes for Gore. Ladies and gentlemen, that is simply illegal. One cannot presume to know the will of the voter and one cannot bring interpretation to these ballots. If they're marked twice, they're out.
The next thing people have been protesting are the 3,000 votes cast for Pat Buchanan, who has been close to a saint throughout this whole ugly process. As I have said before, Buchanan has many supporters in Florida. This has been a big year for third parties. So it's not entirely unbelievable that Buchanan got several thousand votes in the state and perhaps several hundred in Palm Beach County.
However, it is also possible that people misread the ballot. Well, that's their own damn fault. That ballot was mailed to every registered voter in the county. It was printed in the newspaper. Voting is a precious privilege in this country, and if you really value your vote, you'll cast it carefully. There is no excuse for someone to be surprised by the ballot. And, if people had trouble understanding the ballot, they should have asked a volunteer to come help them-before they marked their ballot. It deserves more than a quick look. There are also claims of people being denied second ballots, which is, indeed, against the law. These claims will have to be investigated separately. But I reiterate my point that if people are having trouble understanding their ballots, they should not mark it until they understand.
So now we are embroiled in a bitter mess, one that can only get uglier as the hours tick by. As I said before, Daley and Christopher should not have gone on television and started throwing around accusations before the counts were in. Bush's campaign could not have been expected to just lie there and take those kinds of threats and they reacted with an eye for an eye-you recount your counties in Florida, we'll recount states.
Now Gore is calling for a hand recount in four counties-Broward, Dade, Palm Beach and Volusia-that he has already won. Does this raise anyone else's eyebrows? I'm almost positive that he chose those counties because they are heavily Democratic. The votes would be counted by Democrats (see: human error, bias), and any more votes Gore might get could be passed off as a natural extension of his present lead.
This hand recount is a terrible idea. It opens the door wide to human meddling. We cannot continue to recount until we are happy. Under Florida law, if the difference between the two largest vote-getters is within one-half of 1 percent, an automatic recount will be done. Whoever wins that wins. This seems fair to me. If Gore had won the recount, I would have been fine with that. But this incessant recounting makes me suspicious.
Here's my proposal: keep this thing out of the courts. In a democracy, we do not rely on a judge to choose our leaders. President Clinton was absolutely right-the people have spoken, and we just don't know what they said. We must be patient and let the counts come in. Then, if Bush wins, Bush wins. If Gore wins, Gore wins. Barring actual voter fraud, there is no reason to involve the court system; everyone needs to stop demanding recounts and throwing accusations around like confetti.
At this point, either man's administration will be tainted with the scent of illegitimacy. But if Gore pushes this matter to the courts, to overturn the popular vote, it will be all the worse for him. Such a move would go against the Constitution, and would also mean that, in 2004, it's a safe bet that every Republican in this country will be lined up at the polls.
Windy Booher is a member of the Class of 2002.