McAuliffe: Miami Herald Recount Story Misses Thousands of Votes and Misses the Point
"Al Gore Won Florida: You Can Count on It"
OLD FLORIDA VOTE TOTAL Bush +537
Orlando Sentinel Review Gore +582
Palm Beach Post Review Gore +682
Palm Beach County Election Board Gore +174
Miami Herald Review Gore +49
Tampa Tribune Review Gore +120
NEW FLORIDA VOTE TOTAL Gore +1,070
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe raised questions today about a story appearing in Monday's Miami Herald which claims that Bush would have won the election based on their count of the undervotes in Miami-Dade county. McAuliffe called the report "vastly incomplete" and pointed to reports from other Florida papers showing Gore leading both in a full statewide recount and in the original four counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Volusia and Palm Beach.
"If Republicans think this study of one county proves Bush won Florida, then they're making the same mistake they've been making for months: They're not counting every vote," said McAuliffe.
Including media recounts across Florida that have been completed and the votes found by the Palm Beach County Elections Board but not included in the statewide certification, Gore would have picked up 1,607 votes, giving him a 1,070 vote winning margin.
"Even if you include the totals from one county today, Gore is still ahead and we are only part way through the press recount process. Bush and the Republicans know that Al Gore won Florida. Republicans are trying to divert attention away from the truth, that a fair and accurate counting of all votes in the Florida will show that the wrong man is sitting in the White House today," McAuliffe said.
Four County Recount
In the four counties where Democrats had requested recounts, Broward, Volusia, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, only two media recounts have been completed. Recounts in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach alone add 731 additional Gore votes. Plus, Palm Beach County's Elections Board found an additional 174 Gore votes which were not included in the statewide totals. Combined, these recounts in just two counties, Gore would have had a winning margin of 368 votes.
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