“Nightmare” 20 years ago haunted the Trump-Biden confrontation

Florida and controversial elections

Two days after the March 11 election, Americans still don’t know for sure who of the two candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, will become their next president because the results are quite tight and some states are on the battlefield. no. vote counting is completed.

Confidently waiting for the results day after day makes many people think of the 2000 election between Republican George W Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore, an election that only falls 37 days after departure. I’ll pay.

However, if this year’s election is determined by multiple states on the battlefield, the 2000 election will be decided solely by Florida.

On the night of November 7, 20 years ago, after the states in turn announced the preliminary results of the vote count, the US media simultaneously reported that candidate George W. Bush had won. Just two hours later, many news agencies suddenly withdrew this statement. That is something that Americans have never experienced.

At dawn the next morning, Bush was again declared the winner by broadcasters by taking the lead with a 100,000 vote gap after Florida got 85% of the vote. At that point, Gore called to congratulate Bush and admitted his defeat.

However, as Florida continued to count votes, the number of votes for Mr. Al Gore increased again, narrowing the gap between the two candidates all the way to just a few hundred votes out of more than 6 million. At that point, the major news agencies withdrew once again to claim Bush’s victory. Democratic candidate Al Gore also withdrew his earlier loss and offered to count.

Florida election law allows candidates to request a recount if the gap is too narrow. After the vote-counting process, Bush was only about 300 votes ahead of Gore. Florida state affairs officer Katherine Harris stated at the time that she would not accept the recount if the counties did not submit the results by Nov. 14. The Supreme Court of the State of Florida decided to extend the term to present the results until November 26, but it was rejected by the Federal Supreme Court. On November 26, the Florida Election Commission announced that Bush won the state by 537 votes from his rival Al Gore.

The legal controversy has not ceased when on December 9, the Florida Supreme Court decided to recount all the state’s votes, especially the 70,000 votes that were previously excluded by the counting machine. The independent vote-counting efforts turned out differently, sometimes Bush won, when Mr. Gore won, but only a few hundred votes apart. However, Gore’s flimsy hopes were stifled after the Federal Supreme Court on December 12 officially declared the Florida Court recount order “unconstitutional.”

The ruling won Bush 25 electoral votes in Florida and he was elected with a total of 271 electoral votes, while Gore obtained 266 votes. The 2000 elections were controversial when Bush became the first candidate to elect the president, although 544,000 less popular than his opponent.

Initiates speak

Amid many comments that this year’s election between Trump and Biden could repeat the 2000 scenario, former Vice President Al Gore, who received a failed run in the White House in 2000, will give an insider’s point of view.

“This election is completely different from 20 years ago. Mr. Joe Biden has more winning doors … The most important principle I tried to defend 20 years ago was Mr. Joe Biden. And others also need to protect, leave that all valid votes be counted and subject to the will of the American people, “Gore told NBC on November 5.

Gore also criticized Trump for repeatedly accusing the election of being “stolen” without providing evidence. At a press conference at the White House on November 5, Trump said: “If you count the valid votes, I’ll win easily. If you count the invalid votes, they (the Democrats) do it.” he could try to steal our election. “

According to Fox News, Biden currently has 264 electoral votes, while Trump has 214 votes. The chances of winning increase as he gradually takes advantage of Trump in battlefield states that have not yet completed the vote count.

Minh Phuong
According to the Guardian, NYTimes, Hill