It Was Really A Tie In Florida and in the Nation - Voting Machine Choice Determined Winner in Florida

The reason it is taking so long to put this election to bed is that it really was a tie in Florida and the nation. The voters were presented with an unacceptable choice and, in the end, they refused to make it. They have hit the ball back into the court of the politicians, as if to say, you decide.

The number of double votes, under votes and no votes for president in Florida varied from a high of 12.4% in Gadsden County to a low of 0.24% in Seminole County.

Many explanations have been offered from the butterfly ballot arrangement in Palm Beach County to the allegation that minority voters were misled at the polls.

The truth turns out to be that the kind of voting machine used determined how many people did not vote for president.

There were 11 different voting systems in the 67 Florida Counties:

manual paper ballots (1)

TGS - Triad Government Systems, Xenia, Ohio (8)

SPS - Sequoia Pacific System, Exeter, California (2)

GES - Global Election System, McKinney, Texas (16)

F&C VM - Fidlar & Chambers, Rock Island, Illinois (2) Votematic

F&C DM - (1) Datamatic

ETN - ETNet, Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas (1)

ERC - Election Resources Corporation, Little Rock, Arkansas (11)

Optec - Election Systems & Software, Inc., Omaha, Nebraska, Optec III marksense

ES&S115 - Election Systems & Software, Inc. Omaha, Nebraska, Model 115 and/or315

As anyone can see from the following table, more voters did not vote for president in the counties with ES&S115 systems than in any other. It was used in 11 of the 17 counties where the highest percentage of voters did not cast ballots for president. At the other end of the scale, Global Election Systems (GES) supplied machines to the 10 counties which had the lowest percentage of voters who did not cast ballots for president.

President Vote County Total Turnout dropoff System
14,727 Gadsden 16,812 12.40% ES&S115
3,365 Glades 3,722 9.59% SPS
264,636 Duval 291,626 9.26% F&C VM
5,643 Jefferson 6,215 9.20% TGS
8,139 Hendry 8,950 9.06% ES&S115
3,964 Hamilton 4,353 8.94% ES&S115
4,644 Franklin 5,070 8.40% ES&S115
7,811 Desoto 8,512 8.24% TGS
6,808 Taylor 7,413 8.16% ES&S115
9,853 Okeechobee 10,722 8.10% ES&S115
8,673 Bradford 9,414 7.87% ES&S115
2,410 Liberty 2,598 7.24% ES&S115
6,162 Madison 6,642 7.23% TGS
16,300 Jackson 17,470 6.70% ES&S115
4,666 Dixie 4,998 6.64% ES&S115
2,505 Lafayette 2,679 6.49% ERC
6,144 Gulf 6,565 6.41% SPS
433,186 Palm Beach 462,588 6.36% ERC
23,780 Nassau 25,387 6.33% SPS
3,826 Union 4,084 6.32% Manual
6,233 Hardee 6,645 6.20% TGS
12,724 Levy 13,490 5.68% ES&S115
12,457 Suwannee 13,189 5.55% ES&S115
5,395 Gilchrist 5,688 5.15% TGS
8,587 Wakulla 9,017 4.77% TGS
66,896 Charlotte 70,100 4.57% ES&S115
625,449 Miami-Dade 654,044 4.37% ET Net
8,025 Washington 8,353 3.93% Optec
49,622 Indian River 51,559 3.76% TGS
88,611 Lake 92,046 3.73% ES&S115
116,648 Escambia 121,141 3.71% Optec
18,508 Columbia 19,206 3.63% GES
22,261 Sumter 23,032 3.35% F&C VM
92,162 Collier 95,320 3.31% ERC
55,658 Osceola 57,341 2.94% ERC
102,956 Marion 106,001 2.87% ERC
35,149 Highlands 36,158 2.79% ERC
142,731 Pasco 146,648 2.67% ERC
360,295 Hillsborough 369,467 2.48% ERC
184,377 Lee 188,978 2.43% ERC
575,143 Broward 588,007 2.19% ERC
398,472 Pinellas 406,956 2.08% ERC
7,395 Holmes 7,541 1.94% Optec
8,154 Baker 8,300 1.76% Optec
160,942 Sarasota 163,749 1.71% ERC
5,174 Calhoun 5,256 1.56% GES
110,221 Manatee 111,676 1.30% GES
58,805 Bay 59,520 1.20% Optec
18,318 Walton 18,537 1.18% GES
70,680 Okaloosa 71,512 1.16% GES
60,746 St. Johns 61,313 0.92% Optec
77,989 St. Lucie 78,709 0.91% GES
62,013 Martin 62,570 0.89% F&C DV
280,125 Orange 282,529 0.85% Optec
26,222 Putnam 26,416 0.73% GES
50,319 Santa Rosa 50,684 0.72% Optec
57,353 Clay 57,764 0.71% Optec
33,878 Monroe 34,095 0.64% GES
168,607 Polk 169,582 0.57% GES
85,729 Alachua 86,144 0.48% GES
57,204 Citrus 57,468 0.46% GES
65,219 Hernando 65,500 0.43% GES
27,111 Flagler 27,194 0.31% GES
183,653 Volusia 184,153 0.27% GES
218,395 Brevard 218,989 0.27% GES
103,124 Leon 103,388 0.26% GES
137,634 Seminole 137,970 0.24% GES
2,489 Absentees
0
5,963,100 6,138,765 2.86%


The proof is pretty clear. Many people were disenfranchised by the voting machine, not by deliberate machinations of officials. Most of the counties where the highest percentage of voters did not vote for president went for Bush.

It is noteworthy that 10 of the ERC, Election Resources Corporation counties had non-voting rates for president of between 1.71% and 3.31%, the top of the bottom half, 34th to 42nd, plus 45th. So, these are good systems. The only exception was Palm Beach County, which had a rate of 6.36% and was 18th of the 67 Florida counties. So, if only Palm Beach County had used the machine the way the rest of the counties had used the machine, Gore would now be president.

But why should the adjustment be made only for Palm Beach County? Let's give all the voters back their vote by making an adjustment for all the machines. When this is done, as the following chart shows, Gore gains a total of 1,700 votes. But because that would mean that no one skipped the top of the ticket (which never happens) he is really entitled to about 850 more votes.

(Gore - Bush) means Gore's vote minus Bush's vote.

President Gore-Bush dropoff Adjustment
Alachua 13,241 0.48% 63.8
Baker (3,218) 1.76% -56.6
Bay (19,787) 1.20% -237.7
Bradford (2,339) 7.87% -184.1
Brevard (17,867) 0.27% -48.5
Broward 209,801 2.19% 4589.9
Calhoon (718) 1.56% -11.2
Charlotte (5,781) 4.57% -264.2
Citrus (4,242) 0.46% -19.5
clay (27,104) 0.71% -192.8
Collier (30,529) 3.31% -1011.4
Columbia (3,917) 3.63% -142.4
Desoto (936) 8.24% -77.1
Dixie (871) 6.64% -57.9
Duval (44,234) 9.26% -4093.9
Escambia (32,074) 3.71% -1189.6
Flagler 1,284 0.31% 3.9
Franklin (408) 8.40% -34.3
Gadsden 4,968 12.40% 616.1
Gilchrist (1,390) 5.15% -71.6
Glades (399) 9.59% -38.3
Gulf (1,153) 6.41% -73.9
Hamilton (424) 8.94% -37.9
Hardee (1,426) 6.20% -88.4
Hendry (1,507) 9.06% -136.6
Hernando 1,998 0.43% 8.6
Highlands (6,039) 2.79% -168.5
Hillsborough (11,203) 2.48% -278.1
Holmes (2,834) 1.94% -54.9
Indian River (8,867) 3.76% -333.1
Jackson (2,270) 6.70% -152.0
Jefferson 563 9.20% 51.8
Lafayette (881) 6.49% -57.2
Lake (13,439) 3.73% -501.5
Lee (32,581) 2.43% -793.2
leon 22,365 0.26% 57.1
levy (1,460) 5.68% -82.9
Liberty (300) 7.24% -21.7
Madison (24) 7.23% -1.7
Manatee (8,775) 1.30% -114.3
Marion (10,476) 2.87% -300.9
Martin (7,350) 0.89% -65.4
Miami-Dade 39,275 4.37% 1717.1
Monroe 424 0.64% 2.7
Nassau (9,452) 6.33% -598.3
Okaloosa (35,145) 1.16% -408.9
Okeechobee (469) 8.10% -38.0
Orange 5,703 0.85% 48.5
Osceola 1,969 2.94% 57.8
Palm Beach 116,781 6.36% 7422.6
Pasco 982 2.67% 26.2
Pinellas 15,805 2.08% 329.5
Polk (15,095) 0.57% -86.8
Putnam (1,345) 0.73% -9.9
Santa Rosa (23,472) 0.72% -169.0
Sarasota (10,247) 1.71% -175.7
Seminole (16,503) 0.24% -40.2
St. Johns (20,044) 0.92% -185.4
St. Lucie 6,854 0.91% 62.7
Sumter (2,490) 3.35% -83.4
Suwannee (3,931) 5.55% -218.2
Taylor (1,407) 8.16% -114.8
Union (925) 6.32% -58.4
Volusia 14,947 0.27% 40.6
wakulla (674) 4.77% -32.1
Walton (6,540) 1.18% -77.3
Washington (2,196) 3.93% -86.2
Absentees (739) ERR
(537) 2.86% 1722.9
0


In other words, the race in Florida was really a tie. And that means the race in the country was really a tie. The truth is that Gore lost the race after the election. He should have said, "It's a tie, but I won the popular vote, so I'm asking the electors to vote for me." Instead, Gore went to court.

So instead of Gore by a narrow margin and a Republican Congress, it will be Bush, a minority president, with a split senate. Either way, the voters have delivered a big Bronx cheer to both of them. For the next four years, the United States is not going to have a president. Everything ought to go very well.

Beyond the issue of president, this election sends a clear message from the voters to the professional politicians that every vote counts and that every candidate counts. The margin of victory in Florida, even with fully functioning machines and no diverted votes, was smaller than the number of votes received by Nader, Browne, Buchanan, Phillips and maybe even Moorehouse.

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Contact: Joshua Leinsdorf