Presidential Election 2000 Essay, Research Paper
Presidential Election 2000
It is hard to believe that it will be a year since the Bush vs. Gore campaign was in it?s
final stages, or so we thought. The Bush vs. Gore campaign was at its climax in late
October of 2000. The people of the nation were casting their votes and the two leading
Candidates were neck and neck. The tension was sky high on Election Day, November
7th, 2000. Behold, we were to have a new president; well, possibly.
Election experts have called ?evolution? instead of a ?revolution? in changing the way
the country goes about its elections. Never in history has such controversy risen as in
Election 2000: Bush vs. Gore. Election 200 has raised ?serious concerns over the
integrity of the voting system. Filled with demonstrations of voting machines and
oversized punch card ballots. The election was ultimately made complicated due to the
counting of ballots which were now being re-counted on a local level because of what
we now call ?Dimples and Chads?
Dimples and Chads are funny names to be given to election ballots; but then again,
what wasn?t funny about this election as a whole? Election ballots are set up to be
like punch-in cards. A person casts their vote and a hole is punched into a ballot
where the space for the candidate is provided. It seems to be easy enough. However,
that was not the case in this presidential election. For some reason, ballots went up
the walls in malfunctions. These bogus ballots were given the names ?Dimples and
Chads?. Dimples are the given name to ballots in which the vote seemed to be intended
but were not quite punched through but sort of made to look like a ?dimple?. Chads, on
the other hand, are votes in which a part of the punched vote has gone through, but the
whole thing is not punched out. It is called a Chad when the vote is punched but
still attached to the ballot in some way. As a result of these complications in
votes, debate was brought about as which votes were going to be counted and which
were not. Yet more complications of ?Pregnant Chads? added fuel to the fire. A
pregnant chad is where an indentation, but not a perforation appears. Making the spot
look rounded or ?pregnant?. Also, it arose to who was trying or attempting to vote for
who. Thus, the debate over dimples and chads began.
However, experts such as Doug Lewis, executive director of the Election Center in
Houston, Texas, said we shouldn?t be too alarmed. He says that the founders of the
Constitution purposely designed the process to be flawed because they didn?t trust in a
centralized authority. He also says that a perfect election is one where none of the
imperfections go into the eyes or ears of the public. He believes that ballot design and
voting equipment should be re-examined and changed so that there should be more
?legal precision? about what is constituted a vote. In due course, the candidates, nor the
nation were satisfied with the way things were turning out. There was debate here and
controversy there, surrounded by confusion
re-counts began. Recounts of the votes began in every state necessary. People were
sat down to examine and count every vote in question by hand for hours, days and
weeks at a time. Bush had received 2,909,135 votes and Gore received 2,907,351
votes, a winning advantage of 1,784 for Bush. We all know those numbers would
change a few more times. You would figure Bush would win victoriously win. However,
Gore would not accept this outcome. His disappointment would be backed up by the
misunderstanding of votes in the nation. I?m sure there must have been many recounts
in several if not all states. Conversely, things did not heat up or get as difficult as they
did in the state of Florida.
In the end, after all the appeals introduced by Gore and all the recounts done in Florida
as well as many other states. It all came down to the Electoral votes of the nation,
which favored George W. Bush. Our new President was officially announced in January
of 2001.
All of the agonizing bickering among candidates and political parties and all the
recounting of votes among Florida and other states. Not to mention all the court
hearings concerned with whether dimples and chads were to be counted as votes or
under votes. All of these consequences, resulted in the longest election process the
nation has ever had to endure. What does that say about the same process for the
many years to come? Change for the better is never without consideration. With
technology today, why can?t the voting process be done over the secure internet? The
butterfly ballots were confusing and especially to the elderly. Many have poor eyesight
and no help when voting. Do Americans believe that Florida Secretary of State,
Katherine Harris and George W. Bush?s own brother have nothing to do with the votes
in Florida? Ms. Harris has been attempting to get on with the Bush Administration for a
long time now, in fact it was said that she will be or has already ran for Congress. This
woman declared Bush the President before the votes were even completed.
Although, I am registered to vote, I did not vote in this election. For one reason,
I work for the U.S. Government and I did not want to show a bias for either candidate
being that I had to accompany both on their campaigns as part of their security teams.
For the other reason, who is to say that one of the uncounted voted would not have
been mine anyway? Or any other American.
The media had a lot to do with this confusing time. First they report Gore has won then
Bush then Gore again then finally Bush. Maybe the media should have stated that Gore
did win fact win but the only thing he did win was the popular vote not the electoral vote.
An elector is one who is entitled to participate and vote in the election. An electoral
relates to an elector or an election and finally an electoral college is a body of electors;
especially : one that elects the president and vice president of the U.S. So, why is it
that Americans even vote when all in all it comes down to the electoral vote?