WEBVTT

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[sil.]

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Florida\'s Presidential Election
triggered charges of conspiracy.

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They stole the election.
We had (inaudible).

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We had prevented the hijacking and theft
to the presidency of the United States.

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[non-English narration]

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Major funding for this program

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was provided by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting,

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the Moticle Company, the
Carnegie Corporation of New York

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and additional funders.

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We know the race not too
swift not the (inaudible).

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Do you not think an angel rides in
the whirlwind and wrecks the storm?

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[music]

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The outcome of the 2000
Presidential Election

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may be debated forever because
of the Fiasco and Florida.

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Tens of thousands of votes were counted out

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in a country where every
vote is supposed to count.

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The United States Supreme Court
decision sparked argument and outrage.

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Concerns about Voting Rights became
a casualty of September 11th.

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After the terrorist attacks

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the New York Times wrote the Florida
debate shifted from who won to who cares.

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This film is about why
Florida still matters..

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[music]

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Swanee River, a Confederate Anthem
is Florida\'s official state song.

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The untold story of the Florida election

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debacle is like the everglades swamp
that covers much of the stage landmass.

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It concealed more than it reveals.
It is murky

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and danger often lyrics out of sight.

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Now back to the presidential election, many new details… The
political drama that played out on American television screens

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told only part of the story of the
Florida presidential election.

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A chad, the tiny ballot paper
punched out when a vote is made.

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The mainstream media\'s focus on dimpled, pregnant and
hanging chads made a mockery of the democratic process,

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downplaying a serious national
problem, turning it into a joke.

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Behind those chairs and dimples are faces

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that we feel the Black and Americans
whose votes were not counted.

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This was a serious problem that was definitely not
covered adequately. Dan Kennedy wrote about media

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for the Boston Phoenix. You had
essentially a tie election in Florida

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and the Bush people made
this extraordinary claim

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that there shouldn\'t be a recount.

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I mean who\'s ever heard of such a thing.

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And the media simply took it as well there were two sides.
Though Gore people want to do a recount and the Bush people

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don\'t want to do a recount. And the
media quickly latched onto this,

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not through prejudice, not through bias, but
simply as a matter of this is a very simple story.

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But it wasn\'t just simple story.
175,000 votes

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were uncounted in an election
that was effectively decided

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by the U.S. Supreme Court and
favor of George W. Bush.

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When the court ruled on the 537
votes separated the contenders.

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Do you think we have a problem?

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Miami don\'t want that problem.
The closest president election

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in a 124 years took place in
a state with a long history

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of discrimination and voting
rights violations, a key context

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that most of the media missed.

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Florida\'s culture of racial exclusion
takes back to the disenfranchisement

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of black men following
the compromise of 1877

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that settled the disputed presidential
election between Rutherford B. Hayes

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and Samuel Tilden. From the end

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of reconstruction through most of the
20th Century blacks in the South

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were denied the right to vote. The history of Florida
I think is the history of America on some level.

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Professor Tom Patterson
studies voting patterns

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at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The
importance of the vote and the counting of every vote

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lies deep in American history. You\'d think
in the world\'s oldest foremost democracy

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that sort of the Right to Vote will be almost
automatic. In fact when you look at American history

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people have had to fight and
fight hard to get the vote.

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Women fought for nearly a century
to get the vote. Asian-Americans

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and other immigrants also had
to fight for the Right to Vote.

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When the nation was first founded the Right to
Vote in United States was basically limited

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to adult, white males who own the property.

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35 years ago some of us march across the
bridge in Selma Alabama for the Right to Vote.

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People like veterans\' civil rights
leader Congressman, John Lewis.

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People struggle, people
died for the Right to Vote.

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They\'re people\'s today\'s then
that we should forget about it

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or and we should make too much of it.
We should get all that.

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How can you get over something?
How can you (inaudible)

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it under the road like it didn\'t happen.
It didn\'t happen.

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Florida being in the Deep South had many
of the kinds of voting rights violations.

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We all remember then led to the Voting Rights Act
in 1965, problems like literacy tests, poll taxes.

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[music]

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Hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan terrorized
Blacks who tried to exercise their Right to Vote.

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But it was the KKK with its cross burnings

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that dread symbol of terror
which most of us remember.

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The registration rates in Florida among
African-Americans were extraordinarily low

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as they worked throughout the
South, systematic effort

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to keep black Americans from voting. And
particularly in the northern part of the state

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and there was no power in Florida state government
that was being exercised by African-Americans.

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Please welcome, Congresswoman
Corrine Brown.

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[music]

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That was the first African-American elected
to Congress from Florida in a 129 years.

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Congresswoman Corrine Brown

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represents Duval County
in Northern Florida.

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Floridian that have a great history of including
African-Americans and other minorities

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in the governance of the state of Florida.

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Storm clouds began gathering in the Sunshine
State ten months before Election Day.

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Would you ask them to two
lawmakers if we could come in

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and talk to them? Is it any
wrong with that? (inaudible).

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Florida State Senator Kendrick Meek and
Representative, Tony Hill sat at Governor

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George Bush\'s office for 25
hours to protest his plan

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to abolish affirmative action. Senator,
how long you\'ve been here for?

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Since three-third. Of course the governor, he only
meets with certain members of the black caucus.

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We\'re not those members. And I
think it\'s vitally important

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that the government needs to understand that
what he thinks is right doesn\'t necessarily mean

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that it is right. Meek
and Hill\'s had unleashed

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an outpouring of support. The march
in Tallahassee they helped organized,

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was the largest civil rights
demonstration in Florida\'s history.

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There boldness tapped into the pent-up
frustration of black Floridians

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and would impact the November election.

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[music]

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We are not going back to time to pay

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and if we got to come back to tell
(inaudible), we will come back

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and back and back and back.

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[music]

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Meek and Hill launched a massive
voter mobilization drive

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that arrive with five campaign urge each
voter to bring five registered voters

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to the polls on Election Day.

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These voters would make the Florida
election too close to call.

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It is a political time and we could make a difference in
the vote. Not only can we make a difference in Florida,

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this becomes a national issue where Mr.
Bush is running

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for the office of the President
of the United States.

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In Florida there was a
real effort to mobilize

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African-Americans and labor union members. You know I
think people understood this was a battleground state.

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It was going to be very close that
might well decide the election.

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[music]

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(inaudible) the Al Gore

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to become next President of
the United States of America.

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Blacks women, Hispanics, others vow that
we\'re going to remember at the ballot box.

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Remember in November. And so people came
out to vote. It was a great turnout.

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We had somewhere in neighborhood

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943,000 African-American that were registered as
of opt over detail and from that registration

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we had 893,000 to turn out. Nine out
of ten blacks voted for Al Gore.

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His campaign was managed by Donna Brazile.
They were more Americans who went out

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and intended to cast a ballot for the Democratic
presidential candidate Al Gore than George Bush.

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But some happen along the way. Election
office, how can I help you ma\'am.

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Part of that something including
the use of voting machines

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that election officials knew are
unreliable and confusing ballots

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and voting instructions. These systemic failures caused
tens of thousands of voters to mess up their balance.

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State and local officials failed

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to adequately prepare for the election, even
though they expected a high voter turnout.

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A number of decisions were made on
various levels of the government

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that led to what happened. Courtenay Strickland
of the Florida American Civil Liberties Union

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said the way the state and local
officials allocated resources

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affected the election outcome. She
blamed the tyranny of small decisions

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whether Fiasco to come. Whether or not they
would have phone lines, how many phone lines.

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Whether or not to print bilingual
materials and how bilingual assistance

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at the polls and counties which have a
significant Spanish-speaking population.

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Instead of saying look this is part

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of what we need to do and want to do as
a as a citizen meaning making it easier

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and not discriminating against people
just because you may you maybe speak

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another language and participate, we do the opposite here.
Despite problems in the past and the intensity of the race

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officials did little to educate voters.

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More money was allocated by the Florida
Legislature for the lottery than voter education,

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a proposal to spend more was rejected.
We in Florida spent $35 million teaching

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people how to play the lottery, but we only
spent 7,000 on trying to educate people

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about elections.

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The United States Civil Rights Commission

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convened hearings in Florida to try
to determine who was responsible

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for the small decisions that caused
thousands of votes to go uncounted.

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Good morning Governor Bush. Good morning. I
have three categories of questions. The first…

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Governor Jeb Bush told the
Commission he wasn\'t responsible.

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He testified that Katherine Harris, a
co-chair of his brother\'s Florida campaign

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was responsible for overseeing elections.

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It is the responsibility of the Secretary State as part of our
constitution. We have a little bit of a unique situation.

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Katherine Harris said she knew
nothing about running elections.

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She said she delegated her responsibility to Clayton
Roberts, Director of the Division of elections.

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Newsweek Senior Writer, David Kaplan
revealed that the Bush campaign

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placed an operative (inaudible) and
Secretary of State Harris\'s office.

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In his book Kaplan reported
that he was there to advise her

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on how to maneuver around
Florida election laws.

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Harris couldn\'t be talking to them directly. But if you
have this go between you effectively had the same thing.

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Well, I will refer you to Mr.
Roberts for questions pertaining

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to the particulars of the implementation of Florida\'s
election code? No. I didn\'t even notice of that.

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And Clay Roberts didn\'t have much to
say, at least not to BBC\'s Greg Palast

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who try to ask them about purges of the
voter roles. We have a statute that says

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we have to have a private company to do this. We put it out for
bid. They got the bid. And I think I\'m done with this interview.

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Wait. Well, let me just add – let me just show you the
contract if I could, Mr. Roberts. Look, Mr. Roberts

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I\'m not trying to give you a tough time.
Mr. Roberts.

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Investigative reporter
Palast went to Florida

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armed with documents that he reported
proves that Katherine Harris\'s office

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directly to the state finance
scheme to purge (inaudible)

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and dead people from the voter list.
What Jeb Bush did

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was to hire private company
named database technologies,

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later became choice for that scrub
the voter rolls of Florida people

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supposedly committed crimes or
move et cetera. The problem was

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people they said were criminals weren\'t criminals.
What I want to ask you about you know it\'s like.

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Leon County Commissioner Cliff fail.
Told Palast that the list provided

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by the Secretary State\'s
office was 95% wrong.

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A State Court has since found that
Leon County violated voting rights.

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Leon County told Secretary
Harris that that 95% of list

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that she gave you County was wrong that
they were taking away the voting rights

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over 600 people wrongly. Did she send back a letter
or acknowledge or change a system or what did she do?

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Not to my awareness. She said nothing.
Not to my awareness.

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(inaudible) about half of them are African-American
and this the core story. They knew

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that if those people voted they would
vote of course for Albert Gore.

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So then they said, the list is corrected. That\'s not
completely correct. Not by the evidence we had.

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Do you have names of any
voters who had trouble voting?

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We said, people didn\'t commit crimes. They
will take someone named Willie D. Whiting

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and they would knock off a guy named
Willie R. Whiting who lives in this state

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and he\'s committed … supposedly committed some crime in
Illinois. There really is a Willie R. Whiting in Florida.

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Mind you I have been voting
here since I was 18.

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The Rev. Whiting was one
of more than 2,000 voters

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who some press accounts said
were wrongly labeled (inaudible)

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and purged from the rolls. Palast push
the number at 2500 thousand to 30,000.

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I\'ve never spent a night in Jail,
never have. You ever busted?

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No I had a speeding ticket
probably 25, 30 years ago,

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I guess somewhat like that, but that\'s about it. You think
you should be allowed to vote if he had a speeding ticket?

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Absolute, absolutely. Okay.

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People for the American Ways also
investigated the voter of purge

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that cost taxpayers more than $4 million.
Elliot Mincberg is People

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for the American Ways General Counsel.
Virtually every point where there was a choice

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Florida state officials working
with the choice point people,

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chose methods that purged more voters rather
than less. There\'s two ways to win election.

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Makes sure that your people vote, make sure
the other guy\'s votes don\'t get counted.

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Now we like the first method we call democracy. And the second
method is called manipulation and theft of an election.

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Professor Alex Keyssar

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wrote the definitive history of voting in America.
If you wanted to cut back on a democratic vote

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in Florida and elsewhere, reducing the
minority vote was one clever way to do it.

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To former Republican Governor,
Thomas Kean of New Jersey,

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the perception of unfairness, undercuts democracy whether
or not that was deliberate suppression of the vote.

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It\'s a perception out there,
and people believe it.

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And if people believe it then
the chances of the ensuring

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they\'re going to get to the polling place
and vote become less. The NAACP filed suit

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to force officials to accept responsibility
for what the New York Times described

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as the most fouled up, disputed

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and wrenching presidential election in
American history. I fear that this election

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just tells the 50% who are voting.
Things don\'t work so well.

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You may go to the ballot. You
may go to the polling place

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and your vote still may not wind up getting account
…getting counted. It is the responsibility of the…

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While Governor Bush, Katherine,
Harris and local election officials

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have yet to take responsibility
for ensuring a fair election.

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Black leaders acknowledge. They fail to educate
voters about how to cast their ballots.

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We didn\'t empower the people when they get to the
polls. We did not tell the people what to expect

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and then how to deal with that situation
once they get there. We fail those voters.

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And then ultimately we fail to win the
election as a result of filling those voters.

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When you fail to educate them and give
them a tool and then protect them

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when they get to the ballot box then you have trouble, and
that\'s what happened on Election Day. We had a lot of trouble.

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Many Floridians of all backgrounds

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had trouble on Election Day.

00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
In Deval County a one-page sample ballot was published
in the local newspapers before Election Day

00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
listed with instructions
to vote every page.

00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
On the actual ballot the
presidential candidates

00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
were spread across two pages and voters
were instructed to vote appropriate pages.

00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
The confusing instructions
resulted in 22,000 overvotes,

00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
ballots that are machine determined had
more than one vote for a candidate.

00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
More than one-third of
the nullified ballots

00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
were concentrated in
African-American precincts.

00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
Puerto Rican voters in Central Florida also had trouble.
The Justice Department has since charged Orange

00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
and Osceola counters that failing
to provide language assistance

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
to Spanish-speaking voters. Many
Puerto Ricans were simply not able

00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
to exercise their Right to Vote
either because of language,

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
either or because they were harassed, or they because
they were asked for things that they weren\'t supposed

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
to be asked for in terms of identification. You
know in Florida its optional in terms of ID,

00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
some voters could go in and just the present
themselves as John Doe or Jane Doe and vote.

00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
Other voters include my sister lived in Seminole
County had to produce three forms of ID.

00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
In this lecture we had a lot of folks
that were discriminated against,

00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
that were disenfranchise as relates to them
not only getting to the polls but then

00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
to have every angle and every wall

00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
put up against them not to vote.

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
William and I just discriminated against. Republicans
insist no Florida voters would disenfranchise.

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
I don\'t think it happened.

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
I agree with you that they are outraged by the
perception, it\'s become a factoid without any basis.

00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
Roger Stone is a Republican
political consultant

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
who was sent to Florida to stop the recount. He
dismisses allegations of disenfranchisement.

00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
How did you have a record black turnout
in Florida then? Why did blacks make up

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
a larger percentage of the electorate than they have in any election
in Florida\'s history if they were suppressed? It\'s counterintuitive.

00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
The point is as high as
black voter turnout was,

00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
it would have been higher were it
not for the steps that were taken.

00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
Please show me one case, just one.
Just give me … you name me the person.

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
My name is Donnise Desouza and I am a
disenfranchise voters in Dade Country in Florida.

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
I want to tell you our story as to
what happens us on Election Day.

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
Donnise Desouza is a lawyer a
long time registered voter

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
in Miami-Dade County. She charges she
was wrongfully denied the Right to Vote

00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
in the 2000 Presidential election.
Fortunately for us we did get inside

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
and we were in there by ten minutes to seven.
There\'s about 15 people and mine with me

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
and when 7 o\'clock came they started closing
of the fire station rolling down the shutters.

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
And the worker came over to all
of us and told us collectively,

00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
I\'m sorry, but if you\'re not on the
roll you cannot vote. And so basically

00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
at that point everyone is looking at each
other trying to figure out what do we do

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
and I asked her, can we fill out an absentee ballot or
something in order to vote and have it straightened out later

00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
and she said absolutely not, there\'s nothing much you can do. The
only thing you can do is call Election\'s Department in the morning.

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
My son has something he want to say.

00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
My son (inaudible) has
something he wants to say.

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
I just want it to be vote.

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:13.000
[music]

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
Black and Latino voters were not alone

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
and encountering problems. In Palm Beach
County voters was sent a sample ballot

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
that added to the Election Day kiosk.
But many foresaw no problems.

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
There was no objection made to the ballot.

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
The ballot was mailed out to every Palm Beach County
resident who is a voter. But the sample ballot

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
differ dramatically from the actual ballot.
There were no holes.

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
This seemingly small decision had
major consequences. On Election Day,

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
Palm Beach County voters came face-to-face
with the infamous butterfly ballots

00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
which had never before been used in a
presidential election. I went to vote.

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
I thought I was voting properly, okay.
But because of the way these notches

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
were placed I voted for a man that I don\'t
think anybody would ever vote for it.

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
And I look at and then I realized,
oh my god. Who did I vote for?

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
I voted for Buchanan. People are basically
hysterical at one of the polls,

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
they said, there\'s something wrong with the
ballot and people are voting for Buchanan

00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
and you better get down here right away. If you went to the voting booth
intending to vote for George Bush, it was a very straight clear ballot.

00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
George Bush was first on the ballot and on
the actual punch hole he was also first.

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
I can\'t explain it. It was so crazy.

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
I\'ve voted before. I don\'t remember this
ever happening not just here not just there.

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
They were aligned up. They (inaudible) and they were crazy.
It was like a jigsaw puzzle. As I said it doesn\'t matter

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
who you\'re voting for. Give that person
the opportunity to vote correctly.

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
That\'s all that we\'re asking. To resell
a poor chose the butterfly design

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
to make it easier for senior citizens to
vote. Voters have to look at the name

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
of the person they\'re punching.
If they\'re punching Gore

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
even though they\'re punching five they may think there\'s a hole up
here. I\'m really not sure they haven\'t totally explained it to me,

00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
but that\'s the only thing I can guess.
This should not happen to people anywhere.

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
It doesn\'t matter whether we are young old or whatever.
And I feel that we were really hurt by this ballot.

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
Palm Beach County voters became
the butt of national jokes.

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
And the first thing she said
to me I love you mommy,

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
I really love you. Why did you get so (inaudible).
You know, I said, what do you mean when did I get

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
so (inaudible). I would like to see you sit at this
ballot and see how you would have reacted to it.

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
I went to my ballot and I saw Gore\'s name

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
and I saw Lieberman name and
my first impression was,

00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
oh you get to vote for Lieberman too, because
there was a hole right next to Lieberman\'s name.

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
Joel Engelhart, a reporter for the Palm
Beach Post explains how many Jewish voters

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
who wanted to support Joe Lieberman
ended up voting for Pat Buchanan.

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
And I looked again and I saw the arrow and I saw the other side and
I saw an arrow coming from the other side pointing at that hole

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
and I realized that wasn\'t Lieberman hole and I\'ve
realized that you don\'t get to vote for Lieberman

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
and you only press once. After the
election empathy ended the Engelhart

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
and his colleagues Scott (inaudible)
investigated what happened.

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
Here ballot by ballot review revealed that
the confusing design caused Al Gore about

00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
6600 votes or ten times more
votes than George W. Bush\'s slim

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
537 vote margin of victory. We set up a team
of reporters to go in and look at them.

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
We examine the ballots one by
one, the most common over vote

00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
that we saw was that voters had punched the
hole for Al Gore and the hole for Pat Buchanan

00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
that disqualified their vote. The
problems in Palm Beach County

00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
were the opening salvo in a
36th day presidential standoff

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
that was set in motion by the TV and cable networks
confused rush to judgment on election night.

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
Florida goes for Al Gore. Bulletin,

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
Florida pulled back into the undecided column. Texas
Governor George Bush is elected the 43rd President

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
of the United States. The CBS News has now

00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
for the second time
tonight pullback Florida.

00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
The timeline between 7.53 PM and
3.11 AM was a time of great stress,

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
right energy and sometimes confusion.

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
Louis Baccardi runs the Associated Press,
the largest news agency in the world.

00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
When the networks went that led
to an avalanche of phone calls

00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
in our newsroom downstairs where I
was from newspaper editors, asking,

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
I might say shouting, whereas ours?
What\'s going on there?

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
What\'s the matter with you
if the others have all said

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
and we explained that it
just didn\'t look right?

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
Some members of the Associated
Press like The Washington Post

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
were debating all night
what to tell their readers.

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
After initially projecting Al
Gore as a winner in Florida

00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
the AP told us newspapers to resist pressure to call
the election. We\'re going to try to make a decision

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
by the time the election filing of that 4 o\'clock
apparently something happen to Florida (inaudible).

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
The Associated Press was right.

00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
The race between Al Gore and George W.
Bush was too close to call in Florida.

00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
I would tell you this, I\'m going to wait for
at least a state like Florida for example,

00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
(inaudible) all the votes. And I think
America wait for the count of vote too.

00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
I told my brother I was sorry that I didn\'t
know what else we could do that I let him down.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
The media all three networks have said that
they would never going to project winner

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
while the polls was still open
and they did. And they did.

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
That may have had an effect on the election. I think the
media ought to be. My feet going to be held to the fire.

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
Months after the election some media
executives did have their feet gingerly held

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
to the fire by a congressional committee. We
agree that there was serious shortcomings,

00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
call them terrible mistakes I do and the election
reporting from Florida on November seven and eight.

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
If you sit there and four of your competitors
have rejected the next President of United States

00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
and you haven\'t. Yet there is a lot of
competitive pressure what anybody tells you.

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
CBS News and the other network news operations made
very serious mistakes that night and they\'re mistakes

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
that all of us at the table and certainly I
deeply regret. Those very serious mistakes

00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
allowed opponents of Al Gore who won the
national popular vote to be pictured

00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
as a sore loser who was
trying to steal the election.

00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
He was never able to shake that label.
On the morning after the election

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
George W. Bush was leading Al
Gore by 1784 votes out of nearly

00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
6 million votes cast in Florida.

00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
The Florida Statute says
that when the margin

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
is sufficiently small, half of one percent

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
of total number of ballots cast, the
ballots will then be re-tabulated.

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
But 18 of Florida\'s counties
ignored the legal mandate

00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
to recount the ballots. After the
partial machine recount Bush\'s

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
lead had shrunk to 327 votes. On
day three of the election impasse

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
Gore requested a hand recount of balance
in four democratic leading counties.

00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
He\'s decision led to the perception that
he too did not want a full recount.

00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
Judge Charles Burton chaired the
Palm Beach County canvassing board.

00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
While they wanted to count all the votes.

00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
They wanted to count all the votes in Palm Beach and Broward and
Dade and Volusia maybe want to count them all anywhere else,

00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
which kind of always struck
me as a little inconsistent.

00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
There should be four people at each station. Two counters
and two observers. Okay. Everybody get in position.

00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
Inconsistent or not the hand counting
of ballots began in Palm Beach County.

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
[sil.]

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
We now need to resolve this election
in a way that is fair forthright

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
and fully consistent with our constitution.
Final vote counter shows as Secretary Cheney

00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
and I have carried the State of Florida.

00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
For 36 days Al Gore and George W. Bush
wrapped their win at all costs strategies

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
in the lofty rhetoric of democracy,
but it was just that rhetoric.

00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
Both sides were playing to win.
It\'s not about principle.

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
It\'s not about doing the right thing.
It\'s to get the most votes.

00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
Let\'s count and be frank and move on.

00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
Palm Beach County became the
epicenter in the bevel for Florida\'s

00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
25 electoral votes.

00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
The recount battle spilled
into the streets.

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
Democrats were out
organized and outnumbered

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
by Republicans.

00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
That was amazing to see the organization,
the structure, the framework

00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
that they had like a management team
that was here and just running the show

00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
and they were on a clock.

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
And you could see the mechanism of
the Republican so well organized,

00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
knowing with where they were going,
what they wanted to accomplish

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
and when they bought those best slot
for Miami of people extremely angry,

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
extremely insulting us, yelling at us.

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
There is no question

00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
that the true believer saw this as a watershed
election and they felt that there was the possibility

00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
of electoral theft in Broward
and Palm Beach County.

00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
And therefore they went to go … they went
there to ensure that that didn\'t happened.

00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
[sil.]

00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
Roger Stone was sent to Florida
because of his recount experience

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
and skill as a savvy street fighter. I was
contacted by the Bush campaign leadership

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
and asked to go there as a volunteer.
Until I got there it wasn\'t clear

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
what our strategy would be. it was clear
from the moment there was controversy

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
that the Republican Party both within Florida and
nationally was using a scorched earth policy.

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
Just burn everything down,
doesn\'t matter how bad it looks,

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
doesn\'t matter who we hurt. If you have a problem
or you don\'t pick your given enough time,

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
just say stop and raise your
hand and let us deal with it.

00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
Their strategy throughout the process was to object to as many
ballots as possible, to delay the process as long as possible.

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
Now you don\'t need to make record.

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
I do need to make the record. So
this is due process. Your attempt,

00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
constant attempt to stifle us the Republicans from
giving you our side and to give you reason analysis

00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
is overwhelming and is a stout. As
you\'re trolling for votes here.

00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
The Republicans correctly decided that if the votes
that were fairly and honestly cast on Election Day

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
were countered that George Bush would
have one why would they want to recount.

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
The next group. Well, we
cannot read the (inaudible).

00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
One point we went through
the overseas balance.

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
If it was a military ballot the Republican side was arguing
a trick command. If it was any other overseas ballot

00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
or non-military they were arguing
looking for ways to keep it out.

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
The fight over whether democrats
were trolling for votes

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
was overshadowed when Republican big guns
like retired General Norman Schwarzkopf

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
complained about the alleged
disenfranchisement of military voters.

00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
One of the critical turning points in
these 37 days from Election Day forward

00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
into the U.S. Supreme Court ruling was
Joe Lieberman, the Vice Presidential

00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
candidate was on meet the press and he
was asked by the host Tim (inaudible).

00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
Lieberman caved in instead of saying, no, we\'re just want the rules to be follow.
He said no, no. Of course we want their votes count any effectively caved

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
in a position that could
have netted the Gore side

00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
enough votes certainly at
that moment to pull ahead.

00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
From the new center in
Washington this is AFTS news.

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
A recent Inspector General report released by the
Pentagon says the Federal Voting Assistance Program

00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
has no major problems. After the election
the Pentagon and other federal agencies

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
found that there were no systemic problems
in the handling of military ballots.

00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
A six-month investigation by the New
York Times found that Bush\'s lieutenants

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
pressured local canvassing boards
to accept military ballots

00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
that failed to comply with Florida\'s
election laws. Flawed ballots

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
cast by black and other minority voters
were not given the benefit of the doubt.

00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
When we think about the military vote, everybody
went up in arms because we (inaudible)

00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
the military, but no one has went up in arms of the
sacrifice that people pay for us to go to the polls.

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
And to me there was never a justification to say
well this person\'s currently in the military.

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
We\'re going to give him a break that creates
a big problem. Our USA today investigation

00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
found that canvassing boards did not give the
benefit of the doubt to civilian ballots

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
where the voter\'s intent was clear,
instead they were tossed out.

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
Here\'s an example of a spoiled ballot from Henry County. The
voter supposed to mark in this oval instead they put an X,

00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
that was tossed. Here\'s another example.
Voters would mark in a spot for Gore,

00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
but down at a write-in candidate they would see
that as an order. They would write in his name.

00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
The machine would seed these two votes for
president and over vote, it would also be toss.

00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
If you punch the hole that says Gore and
(inaudible) and you also write in Gore,

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
that ballot is invalid. When
of course any rational person

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
knows that if you punch the hole
that says Gore and write in Gore,

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
obviously you intended to vote for Gore.

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
By the time the overseas ballots were
counted Bush\'s lead at increased

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
to 930 votes.

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
Like a ballot war was far from over
the combatants opened a new front

00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
in Miami-Dade County.

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
In Dade County which is where I
ultimately ended up it was assigned,

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
the election commissioners first said there was no need
based on the number and quality of the spoiled ballots

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
for a recount then they reversed
themselves, then they reversed themselves

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
again based on their initial founding we
believed that they were pressured into asking

00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
for a recount after initially having
a sound finding of no need for one.

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
The bush team went to court but failed
to stop the recount, so they called in

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
some battlefield troops. It was
pretty nasty. It was pretty personal.

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
Don Finefrock cover the
story for the Miami Herald.

00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
Probably the most ludicrous
objection or challenge

00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
that the Republicans mounted was the
same lawyer from Long Island complaint

00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
that some of the county employees who
we\'re counting balance were chewing gum

00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
and that they should be prohibited from chewing gum. The count was
proceeding in an open conference room with ceiling the floor glass windows

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
or glass walls and there were
75, 80 people in the room.

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
That the strategy here
was to slow the count

00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
to make it as frustrating as tedious,

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
as difficult as possible for the canvassing
board to complete the task. At that point

00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
Gore was up by about 157 votes net in the
recount. The three members of the board,

00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
all Democrats attempted to take 1400

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
paper ballots, leave the 12th floor,

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
go to the 19th floor and enter a
conference room with no windows

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
and no doors and no observers
of any kind and close the door.

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
Well, not exactly according to Gisela
Salas Assistant Supervisor of Elections.

00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
They were separating

00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
the overvotes from the remainder
of the counted ballots

00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
and what occurred was they moved operation to
that room so that they could use the equipment

00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
and supervise the operation at the same time.
There was a public outcry among the observers

00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
who were Republicans. They
were justified in doing so.

00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
They were stopping a crime in process or
in this case a potential crime in process.

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
Apparently the public did not understand exactly what was transpiring
and did not understand why they had moved to close borders.

00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
[sil.]

00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
This reference to the public is misleading
in that many of those objecting

00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
were organized political operatives
including congressional staffers

00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
who were dispatched to Miami-Dade County by Republican
congressman Tom DeLay to disrupt the hand count.

00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:58.000
[sil.]

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
Primarily, they look like Washington types.

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
They were dressed in Chinos
and blue Oxford shirts

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
and they were not your typical street protesters.
Were some congressional staffers? Absolutely.

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
Were some Republican staffers? Absolutely. Were there other Miami
and Dade County based Republicans? Yes. It was it was a mix.

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
Republican Congressman John Sweeney
reportedly gave the order to shut it down.

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
This spokesperson for the Republican Party

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
acknowledged that Sweeney at that
point by telephone said something

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
to the effect of shut it down or stop them. It was
asymptomatic effort to manufacture new votes for Al Gore.

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
That is what we stopped. I\'m proud of that.

00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
What happened in Miami-Dade County was different.
It was over the edge, over the legal edge.

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
Legal or not the demonstrators achieved their
goal. The Miami Dade County canvassing Board

00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
reversed its decision. The hand recount that
Al Gore hoped would put him over the top

00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
was shut down.

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
Later that evening
Miami-Dade County residents

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
rallied outside the building
housing the canvassing board

00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
to protest a double standard in law
enforcement. There were some action

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
going on up there in the
18th and the 19th floors.

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
If the people up there
would have look like me

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
they would say, there was riot on the
18th and 19th floor. (inaudible).

00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
There would have been people going to jail.

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
But because they didn\'t look
like me and they happen

00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
to Republicans they got away with it.

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
We prevented the hijacking
and theft to the presidency

00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
of the United States. That\'s
how we felt about it.

00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
The election was close, but
tonight after a count,

00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
a recount and yet another manual recount,

00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
Secretary Cheney and are honored and
humbled to have won the State of Florida

00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
which gives us the needed electoral
votes to win the election.

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
But the election was not over. The Florida
Supreme Court ordered a manual recount

00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
of the 43,000 ballots that apparently
had no choice for president marked,

00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
the so-called under votes.

00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
Within hours the United States Supreme Court
stepped in and halted the state-wide recount.

00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
I guess when they looked at
pictures on Saturday on television

00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
all across Florida of people systematically counting
votes, they saw something very different from what I saw.

00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
I saw Democracy at Work.
Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe

00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
argued the first Bush versus Gore case
before the United States Supreme Court.

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
They must have looked at
that and seeing kiosk.

00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
It\'s not orderly. People looking up at ballot as
squinting. We would much rather have machines.

00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
That\'s two very different
visions of the world.

00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
I think one vision is far more consistent
with our form of government than the other.

00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
The tension was mounting as unions and
concerned citizens again took to the streets.

00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
This is America. Every vote count

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
and we count every vote.

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
[sil.]

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
One place where the multi-millionaires

00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
and the poorest of the poor have the
same voice that\'s the voting booth.

00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
And that means every vote should be
counted. Well, I do hope they\'ll listen

00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
because this is a shame and
the world is looking at us.

00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
It is not the business of the Supreme
Court. It is not the business of justices.

00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
It is a business of voter\'s
pre-elected president.

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
This is America.

00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
This is America. Count every vote.
This is America.

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
Count every vote.

00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
There voices were unheard.

00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
Under the cover of darkness the United States
Supreme Court issued a narrow five to four decision

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
that affectively decided the presidential
election in favor of George W. Bush.

00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
The five conservative justices held
that the hand recounts violated

00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
the Equal Protection Clause
of the 14th Amendment.

00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
The Equal Protection Clause has historically
been used to protect racial minorities

00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
in the political process. This
particular group of justices

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
have been very reluctant to invoke the
Equal Protection Clause in new areas

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
and yet they did it in this case with what
seems to be a clear part of some intent

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
that was under the surface of these little
hanging chads. This overwhelming series

00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
of profound inequalities among
the different counties, some had

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
their optical scanning machines
with automatic correction device,

00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
so that a voter who said, oh no that\'s not what
I meant, had a chance to correct her vote.

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
Great many had these punch-card systems

00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
and in the punch card systems there
were old dilapidated machines

00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
in some places and fancy new ones in
other places. I think it\'s very hard

00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
for somebody to look at what the Supreme Court said about
Equal Protection and not regarded as very profoundly flawed.

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
The United States Supreme
Court failed to acknowledge

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
that voters in Florida had unequal access to
reliable voting machine. The back that the court

00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
proceeded to decide the case in such a
nonchalant way with an Equal Protection Theory

00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
that wouldn\'t really do very
well on a first year law exam

00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
when the stakes are this great.
Yeah I guess that disgust me.

00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
I believe if it had not been
for that Supreme Court ruling

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
which you can either agree with or disagree
with, but if it hadn\'t been for that ruling,

00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
I think this country would have had the worst constitutional crisis since
the Civil War. In a searing dissent Justice John Paul Stevens wrote.

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
Although we may never know with complete
certainty the identity of the winner

00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
of this year\'s presidential election the
identity of the loser is perfectly clear.

00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
It is the nation\'s confidence and the judge
as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:53.000
[music]

00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
On a cold and rainy day in the nation\'s capital
a divided nation watched as George Walker Bush

00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
the sworn in by Chief Justice William Rehnquist
as the 43rd President of the United States.

00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
I George Walker Bush do solemnly swear.

00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
That I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United State.

00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
That I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United State.

00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
[sil.]

00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
Tens of thousands of citizens
assembled in Washington

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
to express outrage over the United States Supreme
Court intervention in the political method.

00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:43.000
[sil.]

00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
In Florida\'s capital there
was more than anger.

00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
Thousands of citizens rallied
to proclaim their commitment

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
to fight for voting rights for all Americans.
There wasn\'t so much about (inaudible).

00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
We wanted to send a message
to the (inaudible) be

00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
that were we are unified and we all went
to court, we can make a difference.

00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
And we did make a difference. The
people of Florida, they are ready to go

00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
and we\'re going to be ready in 2002.
Florida voters demanded reform.

00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
Want them to show that
this never happens again.

00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
This time their voices were
heard along with other reforms,

00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
Florida junked the butterfly ballot and punch-card voting
machine. Vote for one, zero candidates have been selected.

00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
Certainly makes voting are quite easy.
Actually a little bit fund to us.

00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
Well, strange enough. Florida maybe
one of the few states in the country

00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
that could have guaranteed fair elections in the future
because Florida took what happened in Florida very seriously.

00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
Rest of the country have didn\'t. One of the
dirty little secrets of American elections

00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
is that in any given election there can –

00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
and depending on the locality there can be anywhere from
3% to 20% I think the numbers are of ballots thrown out.

00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
I mean, that\'s amazing in a country that considers
itself the freest best democracy in history.

00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
Some critics blamed flaws
in our political system.

00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
What it comes down to is a systematic means

00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
of excluding voters of color that\'s really important. It\'s
systematic. It\'s programmatic. Others singled out the Supreme Court,

00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
but in Florida a culture
of disenfranchisement

00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
and indifference to voting
rights not a conspiracy,

00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
was the root cause said student leader Andrew Gillum.
There was a culture in Florida that systematically denies

00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
individuals are many backgrounds their
right to have their vote counted.

00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
This view was echoed by
established leaders.

00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
We still have some ways to go to
return to their original concept

00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
that each American could vote, that
our vote would be counted accurately

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
and that we would be given an equal chance

00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
to express our opinion and our choice. The
problem was worse than many realized.

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
A nonpartisan study by Caltech and MIT
found that four to six million votes

00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
were not counted in the 2000 election.

00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
Little thought showed that Florida was not
unique that this was national problem,

00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
a problem that had fastered
free many many years.

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
Congress is addressing this national
problem. Bills were introduced

00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
to set minimum standards
for federal elections.

00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
Nobody should be hostile to voting rights. I mean,
haven\'t sakes as you say the Republican Party

00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
was founded on the idea of voting rights
extending voting rights at its best

00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
and its history. It has always pursue
that principle. Associated Democrats,

00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
should that be a partisan thing.
Months after inauguration day

00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
leading news organizations
reviewed Florida\'s 175,000

00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.999
uncounted ballots. Ford Fesenden

00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:19.999
represented the New York Times and the
Media Consortium. Over about six months

00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.999
we went to all 67 counties. We had
… there were 60 thousand votes

00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.999
and about 110 or 115,000 overvotes.
So it was important work I think.

00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:34.999
And it was eye-opening
largely in the steaks.

00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:39.999
If you looked at all of
them there were a slight,

00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:44.999
very slight margin for Gore. I
have no question that if everybody

00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.999
who intended to vote for Al Gore in
Florida actually cast a legal ballot

00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.999
for him and intelligible legal
ballot, I think he\'d won.

00:53:55.000 --> 00:53:59.999
Some voters who intended to vote for Al Gore were
denied an equal chance to cast a legal ballot.

00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:04.999
The United States Justice Department
accused three Florida counties

00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:09.999
of unequal treatment of minority voters.
Some critics cried whitewash,

00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:14.999
too little too late.

00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:19.999
The untold story of the Florida election
is also one of hope and determination.

00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.999
It is an American story with a
message for future generations.

00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:29.999
Florida needs to be kept flown.

00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:34.999
Florida unfortunately was hidden
under the rug. Starts with me.

00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.999
I\'m making the different because I\'m here.
That\'s where the difference starts.

00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:44.999
This is an ongoing story
of citizens of all races

00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:49.999
and backgrounds who refuse to get over.

00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:54.999
It is not time to get over.

00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:59.999
It\'s time to go back and review everything and continue
talking about things until we can correct the errors

00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:04.999
that were made in the November seventh election and
so that it does not happen again in the future.

00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:09.999
I bound to protect

00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:14.999
the voting rights. The lesson
of the Florida election

00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:19.999
is an old one. In American
democracy very vote counts

00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:24.999
and every vote must be counted. As
established in the Voting Rights Amendment

00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:29.999
to the United States.

00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:34.999
To learn more about this program
visit our website at itvs.org.

00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:40.000
[sil.]

00:55:55.000 --> 00:55:59.999
As our nation watched we\'re
all reminded on a daily basis

00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:04.999
of the importance of each and every vote. We\'re
reminded of the strength of our democracy

00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:09.999
that while our system is not always
perfect. It is fundamentally strong

00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:14.999
and far better than any other alternative.

00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:19.999
[music]

00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:24.999
Major funding for this program

00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:29.999
was provided by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting,

00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:35.000
the Moticle Company, the Carnegie Corporation
of New York and additional funders.