Description

This is one of the official ballot boxes used during the 2000 U.S. presidential election in West Palm Beach, Florida. The city became the epicenter for controversary when voting results in Florida between Bush and Gore totaled within 0.05% of each other.

During a machine re-count Bush was given the edge. Gore asked for and got a hand re-count. An issue soon developed with approximately 9000 of the ballots. There was what became known as “hanging chads”. They were holes in the ballots that were not entirely punched through the cards, so the machines could not accurately read them. The ballots had to be judged by individuals. While the ballots were being examined, the U.S. Supreme Court took up the case. On December 12, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the manual re-count and ruled the state may not “value one vote over that of another’s”.

Broward County Board member, Judge Robert Rosenberg, looks over questionable ballots at the courthouse in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 2000. (Credit: Colin Braley/Reuters, Nov 23, 2000)