With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff
For the story behind the story...
Monday, Nov. 27, 2000 8:29 PM EST
Palm Beach Elections Chief Is Big
Gore Backer
Last weekend, Palm Beach's former elections
supervisor, Jackie Winchester, was all over
the airwaves.
The retired Winchester, who served some 23
years in the same position as Theresa
LePore, was presented to the public as just
an independent source to explain why so many
Gore votes were lost.
Winchester claimed that the voting machines
have been faulty for some time. (Why this
was not an issue for her when she was in
office is not clear.)
Because most people vote for the office of
president first, Winchester said that area
of the ballot becomes prone to problems, one
of which is that the hardening of plastic
doesn't allow individuals to punch through
the ballot.
Winchester's claims are still key to Gore's
claims for the presidency, because some
800-plus ballots that have dimples for Gore
were not counted in the recount.
Winchester's testimony helps Gore's campaign
make the claim to have those single-dimpled
ballots count.
The media, which has been quick to point out
Katherine Harris' affiliation to the
Republican party, haven't bothered to note
that Winchester is a lifelong Democrat.
In fact, she spent the presidential campaign
as a volunteer for Gore, working his phone
banks.
Why the media didn't mention her party
affiliation becomes more curious:
Winchester's appearances were arranged by
Gore's campaign as part of their "Count the
Dimples" effort. |
