In the United States, presidential elections are determined by the majority vote in the Electoral College. The number of a state's presidential electors is equal to the state's elected officials in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Every state, except for Maine and Nebraska, gives all its electoral votes to the candidate who wins the majority of the votes in the state.

With the Electoral College system, it is possible for a candidate to win the popular vote yet not win the election. The winner of the popular vote is the candidate who wins the majority of the votes of the entire nation's population. The winner of the election is determined by whoever wins the majority of the votes in the Electoral College.

The 2000 presidential election in the United States was very close. Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore won the popular vote with 50,996,064 votes, or 48.39 percent. Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush received 50,456,167 votes, or 47.88 percent. The tally of the electoral votes, the votes that determine the winner of the presidential election, was also very close. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the election. Bush received 271 electoral votes. Gore received 267.

CS Question #1: In your opinion, how should presidential elections be determined - by the Electoral College or by the popular vote? Defend your opinion.

The extremely close election led to some very serious debate. This debate centered around Florida's 25 electoral votes. The butterfly ballot used in Palm Beach put Florida in the spotlight. Many voting systems use punch cards, on which voters punch a hole to indicate their vote for a candidate. On a butterfly ballot, the voting options and names of the candidates are on both the left and right side of the punch card, with the punch-outs running down the middle.

Some claim that the position of the options for Al Gore and Pat Buchanan on the Palm Beach ballot caused confusion. (You may want to click on the Web link at the top of this case study to view the ballot for yourself.) Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan received 3,407 votes in Palm Beach County. During an interview on the Today Show on November 8, 2000, Buchanan stated that he believed that many of his votes in Palm Beach actually belonged to Al Gore. Buchanan received a total of 16,962 votes in Florida; about one fifth of those came from Palm Beach County. Palm Beach County is one of 67 voting counties in Florida. In comparison, Buchanan received 561 votes in Miami-Dade County and 789 in Broward County, both in Florida. Some feel that Palm Beach is a highly democratic county and that the votes for Buchanan were clearly a mistake. Others claim that the number of Buchanan votes was completely within reason.

In total, 19,120 Palm Beach ballots were not counted because more than one candidate's name had been punched. According to the Washington Post analysis, ballots that had punched out multiple candidate names were three times more likely to include Gore's name than Bush's. Eight thousand Palm Beach votes for president were discounted because both Gore's name and another candidate's name listed near Gore's had been punched. Of those 8,000 ballots, the votes in the U.S. Senate race were 10 to 1 for the Democratic candidate. This led some individuals to believe that these 8,000 votes were truly for Gore. However, it is impossible to know. Counting votes with more than one choice made would require making a decision about how the individual intended to vote. Making such decisions is against the democratic ideals and laws of the United States. For this very important reason, the ballots were thrown out.

Overall, 29,702 ballots in Palm Beach County were considered invalid. Invalidated ballots included those that were thrown out due to more than one candidate being voted for, and those on which no choice for President had been indicated. In the 1996 presidential election, there were 14,872 invalidated ballots in Palm Beach County - about half the number invalidated in the 2000 election.

It is important to remember that political parties representing each candidate review and approve every ballot before use. The Palm Beach County ballot was not an exception. It was reviewed prior to the election by a representative for Al Gore and determined to be a fair and reasonable ballot. Many claim that because of this the debate over the outcome was moot.

CS Question #2: Do you think ballots should be invalidated when more than one candidate was voted for? Why or why not?

The other debate in Florida was the counting of ballots with hanging chads. A hanging chad refers to the piece of paper that is still attached to the punch card after a voter has punched out their choice. When a punch card has a hanging chad, the vote counting machines may not count the vote. Some claim that it is easy to determine the intention of a voter when there is only one vote cast despite the error of a hanging chad. Such votes can only be counted using a manual recount. Others claim that manual recounts create a much higher margin of error than automated recounts and should not be used.

Gore requested manual recounts of disputed counties, including Palm Beach. This request resulted in extensive legal battles. After rulings and arguments in lower courts that denied the manual recount, Gore appealed to the Florida State Supreme Court. The Florida Supreme Court ordered to that the recount should proceed, including the hand count of 9,000 disputed "undervote" or "hanging chad" ballots. Bush appealed the Florida Supreme Court decision to the Supreme Court in the case of Bush v. Gore. The final decision of the court was to halt the recount. Some felt that the 5-4 ruling of the Supreme Court was an indication of party loyalty. Republicans had appointed seven of the nine then current Supreme Court justices. Others felt that the margin of the ruling was in itself an indication that the vote was not swayed by politics.

The opinion of some citizens was that it was inappropriate for the Supreme Court to rule as it did. Others believed it was the correct response. There was also a debate as to the authority of the Supreme Court to take such a case. Many agreed that it was the appropriate use of the nation's checks and balances system.

CS Question #3: What is your opinion? Should the Supreme Court have taken on the case of Bush v. Gore? Explain your answer.

Florida represents about six million votes. The final official tally shows that Republican George W. Bush led Democrat Al Gore by 537 votes in the state's overall vote. Bush received the 25 Florida electoral votes.

In the 2000 election there were a total of 105,390,475 votes, including votes for Gore, Bush, other candidates and write-in votes. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there are 205,576,000 individuals who are age 18 or over, or of legal age to vote. As you can see, this means that only about half of those eligible to vote did so.

The events and debates that have arisen as a result of the 2000 election are important. If nothing else, they brought the nation's attention to the importance of every single vote. Further, they spurned healthy debate about the nation's voting system. For instance, why, considering the technological age we live in, is the voting system so outdated? Citizen concerns about the accuracy of the voting systems may bring about new legislation and practices. Voting methods are determined at the state level. This is why some states use punch cards while others do not.

The convenience of voting has also become an issue. In 2000, the state of Oregon held its election by mail. Ballots were mailed to registered voters, who could mail them back or drop them off at specified locations by the election deadline. This voting method is highly debated. However, many believe that it is the right step to increasing voter turnout. Many Americans have proposed the option of voting online. However, the limits of access to technology and concerns about security have been major obstacles in gaining support for e-voting. Debate has also sprung up over the Electoral College versus the popular vote. This debate is not new; yet there has never been enough support for such a drastic Constitutional change to the presidential voting process.

CS Question #4: Consider the fact that only half of the population voted in the 2000 election. Does this jeopardize democracy in our nation? Why or why not?

Further Thought:

1. Do you think the voting system should be updated? If you do, how do you suggest it be updated? If you do not, explain why you feel that the current system is sufficient.
2. Do you think that each state should be able to determine the specifics of its voting procedure? Or do you think there should be a national standard for all elections and ballots? Explain your answer.
3. Younger individuals, often referred to as the "youth vote," tend not to participate in the voting process. If this changed and the youth vote came to represent a large voting contingency, do you think political issues and public policy would change? Explain your answer.

Data Sources: MSNBC, National Public Radio, CCN, Associated Press, US Census Bureau, The Washington Post, NBC's Today Show and the Sun-Sentinel