Most Americans have been watching the fuss over the current results of the 2000 Presidential election. Early results from the state of Florida indicated that Al Gore was going to win that state's votes in the Electoral College. Then the rest of the state, the part that was in an later time zone, turned its results in and the winner looked to be George W. Bush. Then it turned out to be too close to call, and Florida state law demanded a recount.

Meanwhile, the results came in from the rest of the country, and it turns out that Florida's twenty-five electoral votes -- sunny, carefree Florida, home of Disneyworld and Miami Beach and more senior citizens than you can shake a Medicare bill at -- are going to decide who will be the next leader of the free world.

As of this writing, the recount has yet to be completed, but preliminary results have Bush leading by less than a thousand votes. This, however, doesn't even take into account the military and absentee ballots which are still coming in, since those only had to be postmarked by Election Day. Weeks may pass before we have a conclusive winner.

So the rush to find every last Democratic and Republican vote in the state is on. This has led to a number of unexpected consequences across the nation. First, a partial list of what is happening right now:

• Nearly twenty thousand ballots in Palm Beach County were thrown out because more than one Presidential candidate was selected.
• Complaints about ballot boxes being delivered late were lodged by the Democrats.
• Jesse Jackson is reporting complaints by blacks who were told that polls were closed or that no more ballots were available.
• Lawyers have been consulted and legal options are being considered by the Democratic Party regarding the above.
• Florida election laws are being very, very closely scrutinized by politicians and non-politicians alike.
• Many people, both in Florida and in other parts of the country, are demanding a revote under the watchful eyes of federal and state officers.
• Americans everywhere are starting to talk about whether or not the Electoral College needs to be removed from the Presidential election process by a Constitutional amendment.

Now, this is a chaotic mess. But let's look at some of the things that aren't happening:

• Democratic president Bill Clinton has not called in the military to support Al Gore.
• Riots have failed to start throughout south Florida.
• Mobs have not formed around either the Republican or Democratic National Headquarters with effigies of the candidates being openly burnt.
• Tanks have not been summoned to the defense of any candidate or politician's house.
• Neither candidate has threatened to use violence to ensure that he, and he alone, takes office in March.

And none of these things have ever happened, no matter how close an election, in American history. We the People have so much faith in the importance of democracy, the integrity of our Constitution, and the importance of free elections and "one man, one vote" that it doesn't even occur to anyone -- anyone -- to try and usurp the law in order to win the election. Whoever wins, there's little doubt that it will be won according to the strictest observation of the rules already in place.

It's nice to be able to take something like that for granted.

While the American democratic process is certainly a viable system with well-documented pros and cons, I think an interesting point is that this may be the first time an election could be decided by litigation.

Both candidates have immediately brought out their lawyers to do battle as to how the Florida situation should be tackled. Gore's lawyers have already demanded that the Presidency should be handed over to Al regardless of a recount. I expect that Bush's team have announced something similar (or more likely, worse).

It was only a matter of time I guess, as it's well known that the legal system in America lets anyone walk free provided they are sufficiently wealthy. Becoming President just lets you get away with murder on a larger scale.

Okay, some friends and I figured this out the other night, and it really scared me. Try to keep up with me here.

• As of 11-10-2000 the entire race hinges on the electoral votes of the state of Florida. Florida is governed by Jeb Bush, brother of Republican candidate George W. Bush. Florida is currently in a major mess for having totally fux0red up their ballot counting, what with some 19,000 lost or invalidated ballots.



• One way out of this is would be to invalidate the Florida election entirely, which is not so terribly unlikely at this point.



• If the Florida election is tossed out, neither candidate would have the minimum 270 electoral votes needed to assume the presidency.



• As a result, the job of appointing a president would fall to the United States Senate.



• Given the recent split of the United States House and Senate --literally-- down the middle, they would probably deadlock along party lines.



• And who decides a Senate vote when it splits evenly?



• Why, Vice President of the United States, Al Gore, and current Democratic candidate for the presidency.

God bless America.

umm... thing is... it would go to the House, not the Senate... and all those representatives and senators-elect are just that: representatives-elect. they have not taken office yet.

So, in this case, it seems Bush would win.

Also: There is no way that the Gore camp would push to invalidate the election, knowing that it would throw the race to Bush. My guess is that once the votes are all counted, whoever won will take office, and whoever lost will take it like a man... at lease, I sure hope so. We do not need a Constitutional crisis right now. Besides which, 19000 ballots were invalidated due to double-punching. That means that 19000 people either did not read the instructions, or deliberately threw their vote away. Either way, they deserve what they got.

This is what will happen:

• First, the recount will be completed. It is likely to have George W. Bush winning by a margin of a few hundred votes.
• Then, several thousand absentee ballots from overseas will have to be counted. Historically, these votes are very Republican, but I wouldn't assume anything with this election.
• Finally, the Gore campaign is likely to pursue some kind of legal avenue to attain victory. I don't think the Palm Beach County ballot issue will get anywhere, though. Massive voter fraud would have to be discovered. There were unsubstantiated reports of voter fraud favoring both Republicans and Democrats in Florida on Tuesday. I suspect most, if not all, of these will be shown to be false or minor.

But that's not all. There will be numerous appeals, and if Gore's case continues to fail in the courts, the media will start making unfavorable comparisons of Mr. Gore to Richard Nixon in 1960. Nixon lost by a slim margin, and most likely would have been able to find enough evidence of fraud to at least challenge the election's results. Instead, Nixon conceded defeat to JFK, more or less saying that it was important that the country had a president beyond the shadow of a doubt. (History books say Nixon should have shaved before the televised debate, but I think that's an oversimplification.)

Another possiblity is that Gore will win in the courts, and Bush will appeal. This particular case would cause a huge constitutional crisis, as Bush would contend that the media's projection of Gore's win in Florida suppressed Republican turnout in the Florida panhandle, where polls were still open. Also, Bush is likely to contend the results of other states, such as Wisconsin, Oregon, and New Mexico. Bush might even blame low Republican turnout in California on the media's projections. In some respects, Bush's panhandle dispute is more significant than Gore's ballot dispute, and the election results would be totally thrown into doubt by those on both sides. It would be Hell.

Also of note is that a new election in a county, several counties, statewide, or nationwide would most likely be illegal at this point. Don't expect electors to turn on their states' popular winner either; such a move could lead to the destruction of America's entire democratic-republic system. Whatever the results, this would be the most dangerous thing that could possibly occur, as it could literally tear down our form of government (I realize it's happened before, but it never mattered before).

If Florida is somehow thrown out (highly unlikely), hodgepodge is correct in saying that Bush would probably win the presidency in the newly elected House. However, the new Senate then votes for Vice President. To be eligible, I believe Joe Lieberman would have to give up his Senate seat. If it is somehow still 50-50, I have no idea what would happen. I think Lieberman would keep his Senate seat, and the Democrats in the Senate would attempt to elect Gore as Vice President. They might have to get a Republican vote however, in order to do it.

If we have no President on January 20, 2001, Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert will become our temporary president.

The winner will not be able to claim a "mandate to govern"; that's a loaded phrase that basically means nothing anyway. However, it should be pointed out that both candidates received a much higher percentage of the vote than Bill Clinton did in either of his two presidential elections.

Another note on those 19,000 tossed-out votes. It's not an oddity. More than 14,000 votes were thrown out in Palm Beach County in 1996 for the same reasons. These were not contested.

In the end, we just have to wait, and hope no one does anything really stupid to put our way of governing in danger. If we have a president on January 20, and tempers have settled, we'll be just fine, no matter who it is.

The U.S. presidential election that took place on Tuesday, November 7th, 2000 will be remembered both as a somewhat puzzling piece of History and as the most intense/dramatic/pathetic (pick your choice) live TV show ever. Everythingians were prompt to express their views on that memorable event and on its implications. Here is a list of nodes which were written on that occasion :

Intro : the main protagonists :
1. Candidates : George W. Bush(VP Dick Cheney), Al Gore (VP Joseph Lieberman), Ralph Nader (VP Winona LaDuke), Pat Buchanan (VP Ezola Foster), , Monica Moorehead (VP Gloria La Riva), Earl Dodge, Harry Browne, John Hagelin, David McReynolds, Howard Philips.
2. Withdrawn : John Mc Cain, Alan Keyes, Bill Bradley, Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, Donald Trump, Omin Hatch, Bob Smith, Elizabeth Dole, Dan Quayle, Lamar Alexander, John R. Kasich.
3. Others : James Baker & Warren Cristopher, Jesse Jackson.


Before :
• Why the 2000 U.S. elections are important
• The United States election system is designed to exclude ideas
  
• Do you really think voting for a third party candidate is going to "send a message"
  
• Political parties that didn't quite make it
  

During :
• Palm Beach County's Screwed Up Ballots The first Everything Scoop ever ?
  
• November 7, 2000
  
• As Florida Goes So Goes The Nation ...
  
• America isn't really a democracy This is NOT a troll !
  

After :
• Thunderdome - solution to the US Presidential Election I love this one :o)
  
• Third World Election controversial, to say the least.
  
• Important Notice to people of USA suffer the consequences :o)


The Final Showdown:
• Florida Supreme Court Election Decision of November 21, 2000 One of the biggest writeups on E2 ?
  
• Supreme Court
  
• My Former Respect For the US Supreme Court
  
• Reasons why George W. Bush became president
  



Of course, /msg me if you see other nodes that could fit on that list. Since this node was created before the end of the story was known, it is essentially a work in progress.
Thanks to GeneralWesc, Blowdart, Shanoyu, Gamaliel et al.

One point that I find myself returning to constantly is that a large number of people, on both sides of this election and in other countries, seem to have a flawed notion of what's going on. The Republicans calling for Al Gore to concede the presidency 'for the good of the nation' top my list. Why? Because...

The System is working.

Really. It is. At least as of 11/10/2000, approx. 945pm EST (when I write this). How can this be? I can hear already rising from the roaring crowd. Does this boy have any clue? What?

Okay. Here's my un-humble, not-so-inflated, real-dollar $0.02 on the whole matter. The system is working because the means by which we (the national we) are attempting to both determine and, yes, sway (in most cases, anyway) the outcome of the election are within the law. Where there exists a possibility that the law has been broken, there are judicial bodies investigating the matter. Private citizens and campaigns, upset and afraid that their side has been wronged, are taking to litigation.

Guess what? They're supposed to. Why? Because the alternative is to stat thinking about picking up shovels and rakes and guns and other implements of destruction and to begin trying to force the issue that way. Yet, for the most part (nearly all of it, in fact) there appears to as yet be very little violence or advocation of such. This, my friends, is what our system is designed to do - allow us to change our governing officials (and in fact, if we choose, even change the governmental system) without violence unless it is absolutely necessary. If violence becomes necessary, then the system has failed, and the Declaration of Independence's points about When in the course of human events... become quite immediately relevant. Note, however, that this document doesn't define or create a system; it advocates tearing one down. The Constitution builds ours, and so far, seems to be doing okay.

What happens if your side loses? Your side loses. But the system is still in place; we will still vote for our leaders, we will still retain a representative democracy (with the caveats of the existence of the Electoral College) and life will go on.

Ah, but what about that dashed anachronistic Electoral College? I hear the cry. What about it? If anything, this very election will force us to re-examine whether its consitutional raison d'être jibes with our present notion of 'right.' It may even lead us to decide that in this case, the Constitution is wrong and should be changed! And then, in the next election (which will happen) we will have improved or at least adapted the system to its present time.

But it'll still be there, and it'll still be working.

If Al Gore were to concede the Presidency at this point, when there are still unreleased official vote counts and recounts being pushed for (by both sides of the coin, mind you) then he would be failing us. Because with this much uncertainty, the system deserves the patience of the people while it works. It deserves the patience of the candidates. And both candidates deserve that system's complete, proper function and process - even if it means they can't declare themselves winners for a few weeks.

Of course Dubya is setting up a transition committee. I have no problem with that; if anything, Gore had better be doing the same just in case! Clinton showed us how easy it is to get so behind in one's appointments that the functioning of the government (not the system, the government its manifestation) can be threatened. Better to be ready in case you're declared winner.

But to those Republicans shouting for Gore to concede - shame on you. For him to concede now would be the very wrench in the function of our system that they claim he is tossing by staying in. Besides, at last count, Bush was gaining in the national popular vote as recounts and absentee ballots trickled in - what are they afraid of, a mandate?

---

The ranter above is a fairly staunch Democrat who is disgusted that he is left with little choice but Gore, but would rather have Gore (or even Bush) than have the system crumble.

Thanks to Gorgonzola for pointing out that the EC is, up until now at least, constitutional in that the Constitution stipulates its existence!

UPDATE 11/11: The Republican party, through shill James Baker, is now calling for an injunction to PREVENT a hand recount in Florida and other states. Excuse me?!?!? In other words, they don't *want* to be sure, they want their candidate to win 'for the good of the country.' I'm sorry, but seeking an injunction against recounting votes already cast, when there has been demonstrated error, is one of the most dangerous precedents I've yet heard come out of this whole mess, and the GOP should be ashamed of itself.

The country's eyes are riveted on Florida, and its bizarre 19th century voting technology. Well, come to think of it, the voting technology of the entire country is at least a half-century old. But change is tough, especially for the fraudulent at heart, and change would eliminate the necessary voting patronage of those who have passed on to the next life, and perhaps even several lives after that.

But why shouldn't the dead be permitted to vote as often as possible--the dead, the senile, and the incompetent, too? Which brings us to God's waiting room--Florida--yes, sunny Florida--Ponce de Leon's great discovery--the fountain of youth--a place filled with people too old or confused to understand their own state's ballot. It's a chilling thought that these people drive motorized vehicles, but voting can be a confusing matter with all those names and dots and things to do.

In a blizzard of hand recounts, machine recounts, forensic recounts, braille recounts, and psychiatric recounts, it has also been suggested by sober partisan minds, with a wink and a nod, that Florida should hold a runoff election. My own legal expert, Chad Dimple, Esq. informs me that a runoff election might be unconstitutional because these privileged voters already know the outcome of the rest of the country. This prospect seems to bother only half the country, and it certainly would rob a viable third party candidate of his rightful votes.

Chad Dimple, Esq. and I have some alternative suggestions which we believe not only to be constitutional and fair, but would reflect the sensibilities of the unique Florida demographic.

The false teeth toss: Voters would line up and toss their false teeth at a pair of buckets thirty feet away--some even get to toss twice. False teeth landing in one bucket would be a legal vote for candidate A. What could be more legally logical and easy to understand? False teeth landing in the other bucket would be a legal vote for candidate B. All those teeth legally missing both buckets would go to the third party candidate, legally speaking, that is. Hangers--official legal Florida voting terminology for those teeth which catch on the rim of a bucket--would be subject to the legal decision of the local voting officials, and this would be based on the number of legal teeth inside as opposed to outside the bucket, most of the legal time. This, of course, could be legally appealed all the way to the U.S. supreme court, which is as legal as it gets, and legal challenges could be made until the losing party legally wins. The loser's decision would be legally final, in a litigious sort of way. Wink, wink.

This next voting method is one of my personal favorites: Pin the colostomy bag on the politician: Voters would drink three pints of their favorite liquid food. Twelve hours later (as measured by physicists from the National Bureau of Standards), registered nurses would disconnect the bag from its voter's intestinal mooring and affix the bag to a huge forward-facing pin or spike on the end of the voter's legally designated walker. The blindfolded voter would be spun in circles until dizzy, then proceed to stagger across the voting gymnasium where a pair of life size images of the major party candidates would reside on a huge official corkboard. The candidate skewered by the colostomy bag pin would receive one official Florida vote. If the bag missed both candidates, this would represent a third party vote. Once again, there is plenty of legal wiggle room around the edges for ambiguous results. Saggers, drippers, droppers, and splatters--official Florida voting terminology--would need to be analyzed by forensics teams and psychiatrists to determine what was in the mind of the voter's bag at the moment of impact with the target candidate or bag man--yet more useful Florida voting terminology.

Yes, the country has its eyes on Florida, and while we might be the laughing stock of the world right now, the United States will certainly have the last laugh in the end. Win, lose, or draw, someone will be the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, whether chosen by popular vote, by electoral vote, or by having a colostomy bag pinned to his nose. And after that, it will be four more years of the best marketing creation money can buy. I, for one, am looking forward to my retirement, and hurling my colostomy bag at a few remarkably mediocre Presidential candidates, because I value my vote, even though my candidate never gets elected.

-Steve Martin Cohen, pissedoff.com

Don't be so quick to tear down the Electoral College

The Electoral College is actually much more important to the assurances of freedom and the Rule of Law in our country than is readily apparent. The Electoral College is a means by which smaller, less populous States in the Union can defend themselves politically from larger, richer, more populous and industrialized States. Without it, Presidential candidates would need only campaign on the issues that affect the majority of citizens in this country that live in large urban areas, and the needs of the minority living in rural areas would be abandoned.

The fact that a candidate can win the popular vote in the country and still lose the election is actually one of the positive benefits of the system. It provides an avenue for political minorities to have their voices heard. It prevents the majority from tyrannizing the rest. It gives the underdog a chance. It ensures our ability to dissent.

Along with the freedom of speech and press, the Electoral College is one of the greatest stabilizing agents in the Federal Government.

It also makes your vote count MORE.

Your vote holds more clout against the other voters of your State than it is against the rest of the country. That's immediately obvious due to the sheer difference in numbers. Likewise, your state's vote(s) are worth more in the National election than your individual vote would be worth. Your state votes, determining the candidate who's platform represents the greatest appeal based on the issues which are most important to your state. Then, you consolidate your votes into an Electorate and submit them against the other States.

But wait, you say. I didn't vote for the person who won my state. Isn't my vote wasted? NO! Remember that the people around you are voting in their collective interests. It is natural to assume that the winner of your state will produce the greatest collective benefit for your entire state (yourself included). Arguably, you are voting for the candidate who will settle the issues that are important to you in your own favor. If you think that the same issues that affect a rural farmer in Nebraska are important to an inner-city mom in New York, or a dot-com tycoon in California, you're a fool...this is why it is important to diffuse the immense power that statewide voting blocs (which would naturally form anyway if the Electoral College was removed) can have.

Think of a presidential election as kind of the World Series of American Politics. Politicians campaign in their various parties for a nomination to the Election in much the same way that baseball teams compete in their leagues. When the big event comes, each state is an individual game and each vote is a run. It is not enough for a candidate to simply score the most runs. The candidate must strategically score the most runs in the most games.

Backing back out of the metaphor, this means the Candidate who adopts the platform which represents the greatest interest of the most diverse groups of people will almost always get sifted to the top.

Even if he is the less popular one.

The American people, in the main, seemed to be calling for finality and closure, rather than democracy. Well, you got it.

Was it not Zimbabwe's Mugabe who pointed out that if his opponent had polled more votes, yet he had won the election, the US would have sanctioned him for undemocratic practise?

The fact is, the vast majority of US elections, since they began, have been won by the taller candidate. The American people have been voting for inches rather than policies. This sets a poor example.

"Dude, Where's my Candidate?"

The 2000 Election was, painfully, not much different from elections of the past. The Florida debauchle was the only memorable event from the entire campaign and election, Ralph Nader "controversy" aside. Any issues were plainly not discussed at length, nor did they have much importance. Hence the slide into an even more wearisome and mind-dumbing round of mudslinging, where the great George W. Bush is trashed upon when his children get caught drinking, among other revelations about cocaine. This, my friend, is boring. With no issues except for a minor third-party threat, and the very ancient, deep-rooted tradition of fixing elections, we can only hope that this is not a sign of a beginning trend in elections to come.

Seemingly, the most talked about issue of the entire campaign was the threat of Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. The main accusation by many Al Gore supporters (or Bush-haters) was that Ralph Nader would suck election votes from Al Gore to a practical non-vote in the third party candidate. This does have some relevance, I do admit. The democrats are known for being more liberal than republicans, and it is plausible that they would have voted for Gore and won him the election had Ralph Nader not run or had he endorsed Gore. But this is an entirely hypothetical situation. In fact, polls showed (note that polls are statistics, and therefore not very reliable) Nader voters which may not have even voted for Gore. In fact, some (about 16%) of the Nader voters would have voted for Bush, not helping Gore in the least. Others (about 19%) would not have voted at all, so why not vote for Nader. His quest for 5% of the voting public and federal funds is a valiant one, giving future candidates a bit to think about on both sides of the political spectrum. But the exit polls showed that, had the election been a two-way race (if you couldn't call it that already), Bush would have also won the popular vote. So, in the hypothetical scenario that Nader voters did not have the Nader option, they may not have helped elect Gore. But, as all "What if's..." go, there is no way to really tell.

Unless you were living in a vacuum, it was obvious that the most prevalent issue in the 2000 election was not even known before election night: the Florida Controversy. What many people may not realize, is that elections have been fixed, or at least tweaked since the very beginning of our great country. How easy would it be for "vote-counters" all over the country to happily slip a few "invalid" ballots onto the floor. Not to mention the black voters which were barred from voting in Florida, the miscounting of