CDR: Florida Democrats shot themselves in both feet

[George at Orwellian.Org]

It woulda been over.

Coulda shoulda woulda.

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/17/politics/17DUVA.html
#    
#    November 17, 2000
#    
#    Democrats Rue Ballot Foul-Up in a 2nd County
#    
#    By RAYMOND BONNER with JOSH BARBANEL
#    
#    ACKSONVILLE, Fla., Nov. 16 - Democrats in Duval County prepared 
#    meticulously for Election Day. They registered thousands of voters 
#    and ferried enough people to the polls in predominantly 
#    African-American precincts to give a solid boost to Vice President 
#    Al Gore in a county expected to swing reliably into Gov. George 
#    W. Bush's column.
#    
#    But the results of Duval County's vote left Democrats here shaking 
#    their heads. More than 26,000 ballots were invalidated, the vast 
#    majority because they contained votes for more than one 
#    presidential candidate. Nearly 9,000 of the votes were thrown 
#    out in the predominantly African-American communities around 
#    Jacksonville, where Mr. Gore scored 10-to-1 ratios of victory, 
#    according to an analysis of the vote by The New York Times.
#    
#    The percentage of invalidated votes here was far higher than 
#    that recorded in Palm Beach County, which has become the focus 
#    of national attention and where Democrats have argued that so 
#    many people were disenfranchised it may be necessary to let them 
#    vote again. Neither Democrats nor Republicans have demanded a 
#    hand recount or new election in Duval County.
#    
#    Local election officials attributed the outcome to a ballot that 
#    had the name of presidential candidates on two pages, which they 
#    said many voters found confusing. Many voters, they said, voted 
#    once on each page. The election officials said they would not 
#    use such a ballot in the future.
#    
#    Rodney G. Gregory, a lawyer for the Democrats in Duval County, 
#    said the party shared the blame for the confusion. Mr. Gregory 
#    said Democratic Party workers instructed voters, many persuaded 
#    to go to the polls for the first time, to cast ballots in every 
#    race and "be sure to punch a hole on every page."
#    
#    "The get-out-the vote folks messed it up," Mr. Gregory said 
#    ruefully.
#    
#    If Mr. Gregory's assessment is correct, and thousands of Gore 
#    supporters were inadvertently misled into invalidating their 
#    ballots, this county alone would have been enough to give Mr. 
#    Gore the electoral votes of Florida, and thus the White House.
[snip]