14 - - The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 10, 2000 ELECTION 2000 ; .r r _ '. F ;' t' d -1i S ,n' t'.' J R 4:: ' 11e I i 4 Emotions flare over recount, ballot confusion Los Angeles Times DELRAY BEACH, Fla. --- The fury came in waves yesterday at the Lakes of Delray retire- ment community, an enclave of 1,408 modest townhouses that Palm Beach County election records show cast 47 votes for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan on Tuesday. "Impossible," raged Shirley Datz, a retired systems analyst. "Even one vote for Buchanan would be impossible here." "I'm outraged," added the community's presi- dent, Arthur Robb, who said his wife, Sylvia, was so confused by the ballot that she mistaken- ly cast her vote for Buchanan rather than Vice President Al Gore. "It's something that never should have happened. It's something that couldn't have happened," Robb said. "You see, the average age here is 75. The community is 95 percent Jewish. It's almost entirely Democratic." Welcome to Precinct 162G, which chalked up the highest single vote tally for Buchanan in this South Florida county. It is one of more than a dozen precincts of similar demographics where election records and interviews with local residents show Buchanan scored an inex- plicable surge of votes on Tuesday. These are the faces and anguish behind the bal- lot controversy that threatens to paralyze the U.S. presidential elections - and just a handful of the outraged voices in a vast and diverse county. The dispute centers on the two-page ballot the county designed specifically to help its estimat- ed 235,000 elderly residents better read the names of candidates. Democratic Party officials ad many voters in enclaves like the Lakes of Delray now say the change led as many as 3,407 Gore supporters to punch Buchanan's name - and as many as 19,120 others to mistakenly punch both names on ballots that county offi- cials have since disqualified. Leon Teger, who edits the community's monthly Lakes of Delray Times and served as chief of a nearby precinct on Election Day, is certain the new ballot cost Gore a victory. "Everyone was confused by the ballot at my precinct, especially the older voters," Teger said. "But I couldn't call anyone. The phone there was out from the time I opened up until 3 p.m. I understand there was similar problems everywhere in the county." Pearl Seltzer agreed. She worked the elec- tion at the nearby Heritage Park nursing home, where half the voters cannot see or hear well, she said. "All we could do is help them put the ballots in the box. I'm sure they made lots of mistakes. It was pathetic. And it hurts so deeply. I'm sure it happened all over." Palm Beach County has one of the nation's largest populations of senior citizens. Its I mil- lion residents also range from the fabulous wealth of Boca Raton's Meisner Park villas and the exclusive Jupiter Country Club set of Tiger Woods and Celine Dion to the haunting pover- ty of the immigrant and black enclaves in Rivera Beach and Lake Worth. The county's 2,023 square miles spread from the swampy shores of Lake Okeechobee to the swank, seaside cafes and beaches of West Palm, Juno and Singer Island on the Atlantic. The aver- age per-capita income is $38,000 and the median age is 40, said Maria Bello, the county's demo- graphics chief. Its residents are 73 percent white, 14 percent black and 1I percent Latino. Against that backdrop, county election records show that the votes cast for Buchanan - now a key barometer of the confusion at the polls - were disproportionally clustered at retirement communities such as Lakes of Del- ray. Palm Beach County, by far, had the highest Buchanan vote in the state. Yesterday, as Palm Beach County's ballot recount continued, there were similar cries of protest at other such communities. At King's Point, an enormous complex of retirees just up the road, 53 Buchanan votes were recorded at its six precincts, where some residents Thurs- day echoed the argument that any votes for the Reform Party candidate were unimaginable. To a voter, elderly Jewish residents countywide said the mistake was made all the more agonizing because they view Buchanan's ultra-conservative views as anti-Semitic and anti-black. More than 10 miles south, at the Century Village retirement complex, there were so many angry voices that MSNBC television set up a makeshift studio in the lobby, broadcast- ing their outrage live throughout the day. Among them: A Holocaust survivor who said she has lost three pounds since mistakenly casting a ballot for Buchanan. Election records show that 57 others there voted for him. Still further south, at the Whisper Walk 4 TOP LEFT: Republican vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney awaits results from the recount. TOP RIGHT: The Rev. Jesse Jackson points out problems with the Palm Beach County ballot. ABOVE: Bush and Gore supporters argue outside the courthouse in West Palm Beach. 4 development and its Precinct 194D, 30 Buchanan ballots were cast. Residents William Stein and his wife Natalie, who retired here from New York, explained how that happened: "I wanted to vote for Gore, but I punched the second hole, which was Buchanan. I didn't know it until I watched the news that night and saw how I did it, Stein said. "I felt pretty stupid at first. But now I feel like the whole thing was a crooked deal. It's a shame that in a country like this, it should happen" At the nearby public library, another precinct that recorded about 40 Buchanan votes, Paula Landau said she's still not sure whether she voted for Gore. But she's sure of the outcome: "We've been Bush-whacked," she said. Unresolved race 'like gang wars' 4 By Yael Kohen Daily Staff Reporter Students may watch Saturday Night Live for outrageous political parodies, but some say they are finding more humor in this week's media coverage of the unre- solved presidential election. Laughing hysterically with a friend while getting food at Wendy's in the Michigan Union, Engineering sophomore Robert Hampton could barely contain himself when he declared, "It's warfare - Crips and Bloods. Itsis ridiculous." Still three days after the election, Amer- icans await the results of the Florida ballot recount which could finally determine who becomes the 43rd president of the United States. "Everyone is tooth and nails, going to the death. It's like Gladiators," Hampton said. The fiasco began at 7:49 p.m. Tuesday when the television networks initially called Florida for Al Gore, then at 9:55 changed the state to be "too close to call." At 2 a.m. the networks then called the state for Bush, 16 minutes later declaring the texas governor president. They stripped him of that title two hours later when official numbers indicated the call was premature. John Truscott, spokesman for Michigan Gov. John Engler, said a "loss of faith in the media has already occurred." Since then the public have been in sus- pense, glued to the very networks who made the initial errors. "It's so funny. It's like gang wars," Engi- neering sophomore Darryl Boyd said. "Everyone's desperate now." Even a group of friends having a drink at Good Time Charley's last night couldn't help but discuss the recent political events. "Clearly the networks messed up big time," LSA junior Joel Sundin said. Bush officials have declared that the Texas governor has won the election. Truscott said Engler has been in person- al contact with Bush and key campaign officials in Florida to discuss the situation. The events have been "an extreme roller coaster ride, one like we've never been on before and probably will never be on again," Truscott said. Michigan Democratic Party spokesman Dennis Denno said state party members are "doing the same thing everybody else is doing" - watching their television sets and waiting for the recount to finish. Although Sundin voted for Bush in the general election, he said he was disap- pointed in the way the Texas governor has conducted himself. "He hasn't won yet. He's overconfi- dent," Sundin said, showing concern over the hostility that has erupted between Republicans and Democrats. "If he wants to bridge the gap ... you need to have some kind of integrity and wait," Sundin said. Florida state election law mandates a recount of the votes if the margin is within one half of one percent. The recount has been continuing for two days. "I can't believe 100 million people voted and it came down to that close of a margin" University Housing staff member Dan Kugler said while enjoying a cigarette at the bar and watching the news coverage on the television in Ashley's on South State Street last night. But Ohio' State University student Seth Krupp said he has had enough of the pres- idential mess. "I just want to know what the truth is," Krupp said at Good Time Charley's last night. A P PHOTOS ABOVE: Florida A&M students crowd the state capitol building in protest of the ballot confusion in some Florida precincts. RIGHT: Election officials recount ballots in Fort Lauderdale. FAR RIGHT: A protester holds up a sign in Palm Beach County. 44 b