TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – For 36 days in 2000, the world watched Florida election workers examine ballot after ballot, trying to determine the fate of the presidency.
The 2000 presidential election was the last time Florida’s 25 electoral college votes were truly up for grabs. A media frenzy in Tallahassee waited for more than a month to see if Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next president.
As the United States celebrates 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, WCTV and its parent company, Gray Media, are taking a moment to celebrate our local history. Our “We The People” series commemorates and honors local history in the Big Bend and South Georgia.
Mike Vasalinda, a journalist who covered the Florida Capitol for nearly 50 years, said the election marked one of the most memorable moments in their career.
“It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen around the Capitol,” Vasalinda said.
The uncertainty created constant changes for reporters covering the story.
“You might have had an idea of what your story was going to look like at 9 a.m., and by 9:30 it had changed and it changed every half hour until you actually had the story out,” Vasalinda said.
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The election required several recounts and rulings from state and federal supreme courts to determine that George Bush won. The final count showed Bush ahead by only 537 votes.
Political analyst Susan MacManus said Florida’s election system at the time failed voters.
“The punch cards caused a lot of people to not vote or to vote twice. The ballot design, particularly in Palm Beach County, was such a lot of people were confused,” MacManus said.
The manual recounting process created additional confusion. Not all punches went completely through the ballots, leaving behind hanging chads. Election officials also lacked uniform standards for determining voter intent.
“They were using different ways of measuring ‘voter intent’ once they started looking at the double-marked or under-vote ballots. And looking at those and revisiting those. That was a really big problem,” MacManus said.
Al Gore conceded to George W. Bush on Dec. 12, 2000.
The delays and failures changed elections across the country. Florida is now considered a model of election administration.
“It’s important to realize that things evolve and things, like anything else, you have to constantly look and re-look at election law and election equipment, election administration,” MacManus said.
State lawmakers continue to discuss election integrity, with new election laws expected to be introduced during the next legislative session.
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