One of the most tension-filled, stressful, and close elections, was the election for the 54th presidency of the United States of America. This election involved Republican Nominee George W. Bush, Democratic Nominee Albert Gore, and Green Party Nominee Ralph Nader. To begin with, this election was extremely close, as the votes between G.W.Bush and Al Gore were only a mere 537 votes.[1] The legitimacy of this election comes into question, when the electoral votes of Florida caused enormous dispute. The results from the Florida votes were basically 50/50, which triggered an automatic machine recount."The final margin of the Florida vote is reported to be 1,784 votes; Bush leads Gore 2,909,135 (48.8%) to 2,907,351 (48.8%) with other candidates …show more content…
This caused outrage, because people from specific (left leaning) counties were complaining that they were confused by the ballot itself. In my opinion, even if there was a statewide recount, Albert Gore still wouldn't win. "According to a massive months-long study commissioned by eight news organizations in 2001, George W. Bush probably still would have won even if the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed a limited statewide recount to go forward as ordered by Florida’s highest court."[1] On the other hand, I do believe that Gore could've won, if he had requested to recount all disputed ballots nationwide. "However, Gore never asked for such a recount. The Florida Supreme Court ordered only a recount of so-called "Undervotes," about 62,000 ballots where voting machines didn’t detect any vote for a presidential candidate."[1] There could have been outstanding chances to secure Gore's win, but there were only unfortunate events that cost his Presidency. There are many who argue that Ralph Nader had also cost Gore his Presidency, and there is only a tiny part of me that agrees with this.
Golden, A. L. (2001). Disputed ballots, partisan conflict, and constitutional uncertainty: The election of 2000 in historical context. The American Behavioral Scientist, 44(12), 2252-2268. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214769221?accountid=45049
Why should more than a million-and-a-half California supporters of George W. Bush see all 54 of the state's electoral votes go to Al Gore? In short, what is wrong with apportioning each state's electoral votes in accordance with the way the state's electorate votes? A better question, no doubt, is why not ditch the electoral college system altogether and go to direct elections? Politicians as different as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon backed a constitutional amendment to have all the states go to a proportional system. Obviously, nothing came of the proposals.
In 1888, Benjamin Harrison won a seat in the White House. He lost popular votes because he carried electoral votes on his side. Furthermore, the margin between electoral votes was less than one percent, but Harrison still became president despite the 100,000 popular votes difference! Election of 2000 came up with the same scenario. Gore won people’s support but lost electors’; therefore he had to accept G.W.... ...
2016 is slowly approaching as 2015 comes to an end and thus ushers in a new president at the end of the year! The 2016 election will be held on November 8th, 2016 and will be the 58th quadrennial presidential election. With each presidential election comes the controversy on the basis of how they were elected. Primarily, the public’s opinion on the Electoral College and how it is the actual determining factor, in who is chosen for the presidency. The problems that may spring forward will be what the Electoral College actually is and how it works, why the Founding Fathers created the Electoral College, major criticisms on the Electoral College, and why it should be abolished.
Deny to any person within the equal protection of the laws.” Gore’s representation responded that the Florida Supreme Court had done everything it could to establish equal treatment of both parties, and that requiring all ballots to be treated in the same manner would require a new federal standard for counting votes. Gore also claimed that ending recounts was not a good way to settle this extraordinary dispute.
Secondly, do you agree with election 2000? I surely don't, I mean the wrong president won the election. Gore received 500,000 more votes than Bush. But who won the election, Bush. All because of a policy called the Electoral College. It is a very controversial issue. I know that many people are unhappy about this election. I thought we were a democracy! And we choose are president, not electors.
Since the fiasco that was the Presidential Election in the year 2000, many Americans have been calling for a reform of the Electoral College. Most of these people were Gore supporters; disillusioned by the fact that Bush won the office of the President while, in fact, he lost the popular vote. The American people did not elect George W. Bush; the Electoral College did.
Another reason citizens do not agree with the Electoral College is the national polls versus Electoral College votes. Some believe the Electoral College falsely depicts who the citizens of the United States desire as their next president. The most recent instance of a president losing the popular vote was Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Clinton commanded a lead over Trump by almost three million votes. However, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton with seventy-seven votes Electoral College votes. Ultimately, there are valid claims citizens of the United States can state to show that the Electoral College is a flaw in
their vote, and a hole is punched into a ballot where the space for the
Ralph Nader has accomplished many tasks other than being 6’3” and making it to the age 83 and still going. He was and still is an environmental activist, consumer advocate, and a politician. He also is an anti-war activist. He also ran for president many times. But, I would like to focus on Nader’s work on being a consumer advocate.
The Constitution Center, a museum accredited by the American Association of Museums, awards the Liberty Medal to men and women each year and is the only museum to commemorate the American Constitution. That is where we are now. We are at 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - the National Constitution Center. Not to be confused with Independence Hall, the Constitution Center was not where the Constitution was actually written or signed. The Constitution Center does, though, hold one of the 12 surviving copies of the Constitution.
In a chart from Document G, there are 4 past elections listed that compare the popular votes to the electoral votes. In the 2000 election, George W. Bush won by 271 electoral votes, while Gore won by 266 electoral votes. This may seem reasonable for Bush to be the president, but when it comes to the popular vote, Gore had the highest amount of popular votes than Bush did. So why did Bush win instead? This is one of the main reasons why the Electoral College should be abolished.
If one were to look at the voting history as of late in America you would surely find information on the Florida catastrophe in 2000. The problem with our voting system today is in the technology being used; many demographic groups find our current systems confusing and hard to use. As voters step into the polling places this election year many will be voting through new devices some even sporting “touch screen” technology and we can only hope that the new technology is understood and accepted.
In “An Election to Remember,” an article by Glen Greenberg, Greenberg discusses why this year’s election is truly one to remember. Early on Wednesday morning, it was clear that Trump had won the majority of the electoral college votes and become the 45th President of the United States of America. The results were delayed because of several key states such as Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, were too close to call. By 2:30 A.M., Trump had received a total of 276 electoral college votes out of the 270 needed, while Hillary Clinton had only acquired 218. These results surprised many pollsters because many previous polls had shown favor for Hillary Clinton.
There are several problems when it comes to elections. One of the problems is whether the candidates played fairly throughout the election. Another problem is whether the votes that are being cast are being counted correctly or even being counted at all. The main reason this topic has become such an important issue is because of the last two elections. The first election had a problem in the state of Florida, and the 2004 elections had problems in the state of Ohio.