Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election - Plot

Plot

The film chronicles the 2000 US Presidential Election aftermath, centering on the contested ballots of the state of Florida. Many Democratic and leftist supporters, campaign workers, and citizens were interviewed regarding the possible exclusion of many valid ballots. According to the film, Secretary of the State of Florida Katherine Harris and her associates used a wide ranging data collection system to prevent ineligible voters (such as ex-cons) from casting a ballot; the controversy stems from the claims that the data system excluded many people who were eligible to vote. The film offers evidence that many people who share a name and nothing else with an ex-con in a state were denied their right to vote. The cases of mistaken identity were not discovered until citizens reached the polls, when it was too late to prove their identity and correct the mistake.

The film then attempts to draw connections among Governor Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris, and the Republican Party (both national and state parties), to make the case that they conspired ahead of the election to deny African Americans their right to vote, by exploiting the flawed data system that excludes ex-cons and ineligible voters. Reasoning that African Americans typically vote heavily in favor of Democratic candidates, the Republicans worked to exclude these votes to capture the state's electoral votes, the film argues. Another area of contention brought up by the film is that recounts were only taken in certain counties, not statewide; again, this is suggested to be a Republican tactic due to the evidence presented by the film which claims that the recounts in those counties were vastly different from the original count.