William Richter
Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000

At first blush these critics might appear to have a legitimate claim.

In Palm Beach County, the Reform Party's Buchanan received 3,407 votes – 1 percent of the vote – at the final tally.

In neighboring Broward County, which Democrats argue has similar demographics to Palm Beach County, Buchanan pulled just 789 votes – close to 0 percent of the vote.

But NewsMax.com reviewed Board of Elections records for both counties.

Records show that Palm Beach County is not similiar to Broward County in voter registration. There are far more members of the Independent Party in Palm Beach County than in Broward County.

According to the Florida supervisor of elections, Broward County has only 119 members of the Independent Party.

Palm Beach County, on the other hand, has a whopping 14,551 members of the Independent Party.

In fact, it has the highest Independent registration in Florida.

Buchanan received 1 percent of the vote in Palm Beach County. In all the counties in Florida where there is significant Independent Party membership, Buchanan got a similiar 1 percent.

Palm Beach County gave Buchanan no more support proportionally than any other county with high Independent Party registration.

Gore Supporters Sue for New Election

Three people filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking a new election in Palm Beach County because they claim the punch-card ballot was so confusing that they accidentally voted for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan instead of Vice President Al Gore, the Associated Press reported.

Hundreds of Gore supporters flooded the county elections office with calls Wednesday saying they feared they had mistakenly voted for Buchanan.

Lawyers for the Democrat party alleged that the design of the Palm Beach County ballot was illegal and said they might ask for a re-vote. But the party took no immediate action.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Presidential Race 2000
Buchanan / Reform Party