US/2000 Presidential Election

 US/2000 Presidential Election (US Presidential Election)

Date	7 November 2000
Description	"The never-ending election of 2000"

The 2000 United States presidential election, sometimes referred to as "the never-ending election of 2000", is considered one of the closest elections in US history. The election is known for many irregularities and fraud which helped George W. Bush into office. Al Gore continued to introduce himself as the elected president of the United States at speaking events after that.

Fraud

Michael Moore in chapter one of his book: Stupid White Men, laid out the details how the election was rigged by republican insiders in media, judiciary and by parts of the Bush family in order to defraud Al Gore from being the orderly elected president of the United States. Among other things:

• Black voters were excluded from voting in Florida if they had the same, or a name similar to one of a convicted felon;
• Ballots were designed to be confusing, which let voters select the wrong candidate on a bigger scale and punch-cards that hadn’t cleanly been penetrated were not counted by the Votomatic machines, a problem more severe in black neighborhoods which, at that time, traditionally leaned more towards the Democratic party;
• Butterfly ballots had names down both sides, with the punch holes in the centre - which were likened to a maze;
• The Associated Press declares Al Gore the victor in Florida, based on Voter News Service projections from exit polls. The major TV networks call Florida for Gore between 7:50 and 8:00pm (November 7, 2000);
• While the counting was still going on, Fox News declared Bush the winner - responsible for recommending that Fox call Florida for Bush was John Ellis, who led the network's decision desk and was the first cousin of the Republican candidate and his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush;
• Overseas absentee ballots entered the vote that were invalid;
• After lawsuits, challenges and recounts, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a recount of undervotes in all of Florida's 67 counties, which was quickly appealed by Bush, and the case headed to the U.S. Supreme Court;
• The U.S. Supreme Court halted that order the next day, with Justice Scalia issuing a concurring opinion that "the counting of votes that are of questionable legality does in my view threaten irreparable harm to petitioner" (Bush);
• A month-long series of legal battles led to the highly controversial 5–4 Supreme Court decision Bush v. Gore, which ended the recount;

“There was one exact moment, in fact, when I knew for sure that Al Gore would Never be President of the United States, no matter what the experts were saying — and that was when the whole Bush family suddenly appeared on TV and openly scoffed at the idea of Gore winning Florida. It was Nonsense, said the Candidate, Utter nonsense. . .Anybody who believed Bush had lost Florida was a Fool. The Media, all of them, were Liars & Dunces or treacherous whores trying to sabotage his victory. . . Here was the whole bloody Family laughing & hooting & sneering at the dumbness of the whole world on National TV. The old man was the real tip-off. The leer on his face was almost frightening. It was like looking into the eyes of a tall hyena with a living sheep in its mouth. The sheep's fate was sealed, and so was Al Gore's.”
Hunter S Thompson