In a written statement, Gore said: "We are a nation of laws, and the presidential election of 2000 is over. And, of course, right now our country faces a great challenge as we seek to successfully combat terrorism. I fully support President Bush's efforts to achieve that goal."
Some Ammunition for Democrats
Democrats long have contended that a plurality of Florida voters intended to cast their ballots for Gore but that thousands spoiled their votes because of confusing instructions, badly designed ballots or other obstacles. The study adds evidence to bolster that case.
In Duval County, which includes Jacksonville in the northeast corner of the state, a remarkable 21,855 ballots were invalidated because voters chose more than one presidential candidate. The county's official sample ballot erroneously instructed voters to "vote all pages." With 10 presidential candidates spread across two pages, following that instruction produced an overvote.
Of those voters who made the mistake of voting once on each page, the study found that 7,794 voted for Gore (plus another candidate), while 4,705 voted for Bush (plus another). That's a potential net for Gore of 3,089 votes, enough to carry the entire state.
Voters in Palm Beach County, where the butterfly ballots listed presidential candidates on facing pages, cast 19,218 overvotes. More appear to have come from Gore voters than from Bush voters.
The study found that 11,140 voters in the heavily Democratic county punched a hole for Gore and one other candidate; only 2,298 punched a hole for Bush and another candidate.
The same phenomenon appeared in smaller counties that used more modern optical scanner systems. On Florida's west coast, 991 voters in Charlotte County chose Gore, then added a vote for a second candidate; 787 voters chose Bush and another candidate.
On most overvote ballots, it's impossible to know which candidate a voter intended to choose. On punch card ballots, for example, there's no way to tell which of several perforated rectangles, called chads, the person intended to punch out to register a vote.
Intent Often Can Be Determined
But in counties that use ballots counted by optical scanners, a manual recount often can determine which mark shows the voter's intent, because many voters explain their intentions on the ballot form. Some circle the name of the candidate they meant to vote for; others write the candidate's name on the ballot; others attempt to erase a mark they made in error.
