Mystery: Who Won Election 2000?

On November 7, whom did we choose as our 43rd President? It is a mystery worthy of that world-famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

Many people believe that Republican George W. Bush deserves to be our next President. He won the most electoral votes, they argue.

And many believe that Al Gore should take the oath of office on January 20. They say that the initial vote counts in Florida--the key piece in the electoral puzzle--were inaccurate. Besides, Gore won the most popular votes nationwide.

Before you take sides, consider another view, popular among statisticians: The election was a tie.

So what is the fairest way to decide who should be President? In the courts? By vote of the Florida Legislature? By vote of Congress?

One Florida judge might have the answer. "I'm trying to be equitably unfair to both sides' he told Republican and Democratic lawyers. The judge was listening to the reasons Gore had contested (challenged) Florida's election results. Gore charged that the results were inaccurate.

"Ignoring votes means ignoring democracy," he said.

Battle of Chads

In one Florida county, a pro-Bush mob stormed the building where officials were hand-counting ballots. The officials called off the recount. Democrats said it was because of the mob.

Several thousand ballots were at stake-ballots that machines had been unable to read. Republicans argued that the hand recounts were unfair. Why? They took place only in heavily Democratic counties chosen by Gore. Also, many ballots had dimpled chads--little squares that did not fall out of the punch card when voters chose a candidate.

Interpreting ballots with dimpled chads, Republicans said, was like trying to read the minds of voters. And, they added, if Democrats were so eager to count every vote, why did they allow election officials to reject absentee ballots without postmarks?

Most of those ballots were from members of the armed forces. Since the ballots do not require stamps, there is often no attempt to postmark them. But accepting ballots, without postmarks could invite fraud.

The System Works

On November 26, Florida's Secretary of State, Republican Katherine Harris, certified Bush as receiving 537 more votes in Florida than Gore. Therefore, she said, Bush had won Florida's 25 electoral votes.

While Bush prepared for his transition to the presidency, Gore and his running mate, Joseph Lieberman, said they would contest the Florida results in court.

Despite the continuing battle, most Americans seemed willing to wait for a lawful solution. This was just the messy business of democracy, observers said. And, noted one political analyst, "the system appears to be working."

As JS went to press, the U.S. Supreme Court was preparing to hear oral arguments from lawyers representing both candidates. The Florida Legislature, which is controlled by Republicans, prepared to choose its own slate of electors.

Who got the most votes on Election Day? If only we could put Sherlock Holmes on the case.

Popular Vote

(as of November 29, 9:33 a.m. EST)

Gore 50,133,216

Bush 49,805,216

Other 3,833,264