A Contentious Election
The 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, per Britannica, was defined by Florida’s “hanging chads” crisis. Punch-card voting systems caused 172,000 mis-votes due to incomplete punches, overvotes, and undervotes, sparking a 36-day legal battle. Return to Hand Counting uses this to advocate for transparent hand counting.
Hanging Chads and Recount Chaos
Florida’s punch-card machines which used “butterfly ballots,” as the University of Washington details, produced “hanging chads,” costing Gore thousands of votes. The inconsistent recount, halted by Bush v. Gore on December 12, 2000, awarded Bush Florida’s electoral votes by a margin of 537. Votescam’s 1996 interview warned of such machine flaws, seen again in Wyoming’s 2024 ballot design error.
The Push to Electronic Machines
The 2000 debacle led to HAVA, per Steve Levy’s Newsmax article, adopting electronic machines. Conservatives, including Bev Harris (Black Box Voting book and website), criticized their lack of paper trails. Wyoming’s 2024 error, blamed on ballot design but used to dismiss hand counting, shows ongoing risks. Pandora’s Black Box (1996) predicted this opacity.
“Their” Narrative Misleads
“They” claimed machines fixed 2000’s flaws, but Britannica shows electronic systems risk hacking. Mike Lindell’s trial (June 16, 2025), despite a gag order, raised awareness of these vulnerabilities, as Bev Harris’s CNN interview noted. Hand counting counters “their” narrative, ensuring transparency, unlike 2000’s opaque systems.
Hand Counting: A Proven Solution
Our Missouri Method, used in a 2023 official election, ensures transparency. Estimates show St. Charles County could save $68,000 annually, rebutting a flawed election department estimate. Hand counting, as Votescam advocates, makes every vote visible—one bad ballot is a felony we prove. Our eManual teaches this method.
Join the Mission
The 2000 election’s machine failures demand hand counting. Visit our Mission page to learn how hand counting ensures trust and join the mission with our eManual and training videos.
This post utilized drafting and editing services of Grok3, an A.I. tool by xAI
