Election Controversies
In 2000, to accommodate the large number of Presidential candidates eligible in Florida, LePore designed a staggered two-page format with candidate names on alternating sides of a central punch button column. Under her predecessor Jackie Winchester, in the 1996 election the butterfly ballot caused an estimated 14,000 votes for the second candidate on the left (Bob Dole) to be miscast, but this did not affect the election outcome and went unnoticed at the time. In the 2000 election, the miscast votes would have been a decisive reversal and consequently achieved notoriety. A study by the "The Palm Beach Post" speculated that voters confused by Palm Beach County's butterfly ballot cost Al Gore the presidency.
Responding to public anger at the punch card systems, LePore bought paperless DRE voting machines from Sequoia Voting Systems in 2002. This choice came under fire from voting experts, notably Rebecca Mercuri.
Read more about this topic: Theresa LePore
Famous quotes containing the word election:
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—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)