Posted on 08/28/2004 2:13:39 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The passionate rants of Democrats during the 2000 election recount are again being heard in this home of the infamous butterfly ballot, except this time, they're centered on a countywide race that typically would receive only a mention in local newspapers.
At the center of the clamor is the woman who some blame for starting all the chaos in 2000, Theresa LePore, the Palm Beach County elections chief who created the confusing ballot.
Some voters said the ballot design, which listed the names of presidential candidates on opposing pages, caused them to mistakenly vote for conservative third-party candidate Pat Buchanan instead of Democrat Al Gore.
Still angry over Gore's loss to President Bush, local and national Democrats seek redemption in unseating LePore with a former county school board member, Arthur Anderson. Republicans meanwhile have rallied behind LePore, viewing her re-election bid as a way to justify the 2000 presidential count.
Abandoned by her own Democratic Party, LePore has declared herself an independent and welcomed the steady stream of support from Republicans and others as she fights to retain the office where she has worked since 1971, when she started as a file clerk.
Despite the national support pouring in for her opponent, LePore said she can win re-election during Tuesday's primary, then preside over a flawless presidential election in November.
"We're going to show the nation that yes, we can do this in Palm Beach County," LePore told a luncheon crowd of local Republicans recently. Then, showing she hasn't lost the sense of humor that got her through the 2000 debacle, she adds with a chuckle, "Hopefully - No, we will. We're ready to go."..........
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
(Democrats have held fund-raisers for Anderson from Washington to Florida and brought in big names, such as former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, to stump for him.)
She must have really P!$$ed them off!
she actually is quite competant - the Bolsheviks down here are still livid over 2000.
She sounds like one strong cookie.
Hopefully she votes for Bush this year.
It is bad enough that Dr. Anderson, a former two-term school board member who teaches education at Florida Atlantic University, has no experience with what everyone now understands is the complex business of running elections and that he admits that he is "not a techie" in a time of touch-screen machines. But Dr. Anderson also has a history of failing to pay taxes and of not keeping his personal or campaign finances in order. Dr. Anderson is the stalking horse for Democrats who want revenge on Ms. LePore for the 2000 election.
This guy has been in trouble with the IRS for years. He is a crook
Theresa is thinking "Katty Harris is sitting in DC as a Congresswoman and I'm fighting to keep County job".
There's a campaign slogan for ya.."Arthur Anderson..you can COUNT on him!"
Otherwise, "W" won the place in a LANDSLIDE!
Now, for some prosecutions. Couple of dozen by election day ought to set folks straight.
What always struck me about the butterfly ballot was that the arrows were clearly marked. The chad area looked easy enough to navigate. How dumb do you have to be not to be able to figure the thing out? Since its something people are only doing once every two years, unless there are mayor or municipal bond elections, would a minute longer to make sure you got it right have hurt anyone. Like, "I messed up my ballot because there was a Fear Factor episode I just had to watch." The ballot looked simple enough to me but possibly the people using it were even more simple (minded). Perhaps they need to rig voting booths with small speakers and have the voice of Regis Philbin saying to every votor, "Is that your final answer?"
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