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Almost 20 years ago, the presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore was decided by the results in Florida. Due to the failure of Florida to execute the election and ballot counting process in a competent manner, the United States Supreme Court had to address the Equal Protection issues raised by the state when it changed the process of how it would count the votes and the state did not apply any consistent standard as to how disputed ballots were to be counted. This 5-4 decision halted an unconstitutional third recount of the votes. Bush won Florida’s 25 electoral college votes and the presidential election by fewer than 600 popular votes.
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The case itself: Bush v Gore (2000)
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In reading the N.Y. Times article, prior to listening to this, I took notice of it having mentioned the elderly in Florida, at the time, thought that the ballots were confusing (maybe unlike what they were accustomed to. This is what I and some of my neighbors, thought about the Colorado ballot of 2016…in fact, a few of us were attempting to assist one another for that reason. I’d be interested in what you might have to say about that one, as well. Thank you, David, you are quite a teacher about law. I appreciate what you have to say when it comes to deciphering and sifting through it, understandably.
Thank you, Karen!
I have definitely heard the claim that the ballots were confusing and hard to use. That, of course, is a state issue and should be addressed by the state and local clerks of court.
Thank you for the comment!