Former Florida election official reflects on the controversial 2000 election
Former Florida election official 库尔特年代. 褐变, who was involved in the infamous 2000 election, shares what the coming weeks could look like if Trump calls for a recount.
休斯顿, Texas -- As the presidential election drags on, with vote counting under the microscope in five key states, 库尔特年代. 褐变 watches with a different perspective.
“我去过那里. 我已经做过了. 我一点也不羡慕他们. I know exactly what they're going through," said 褐变.
褐变 served twice as Florida's Secretary of State, once under Gov. Charlie Crist, the second time for Gov. 里克•斯科特. The position oversees the state's elections. 在那之前, he served multiple terms as the Supervisor of Elections in Pasco County, 就在坦帕的北边, 在臭名昭著的2000年大选期间.
"I remember st和ing in the office getting ready to go on a well-deserved weekend because we just finished the election on Tuesday,勃朗宁回忆道. "I was listening to NPR 和 they reported about a quarter to five that a Florida judge had just ordered recounts for Tuesday's presidential contest 和 so we had to stop everything. I had to catch people before they left. We had to put teams together 和 we were recounting ballots the next morning at 10 o'clock."
The entire state went into recount mode, which lasted for 36 days. 虽然布劳沃德, Miami-Dade 和 Palm Beach counties were the most controversial, Pasco also had the punch cards with the potential for those hanging chads.
"We had news services from all over the world that wanted to see Pasco County 和 it was just bizarre. We weren't prepared for that," 褐变 said.
参见: It's normal to continue counting votes after Election Day, elections administrator says
之后, Florida made many changes to the election law, which included starting the early 和 mail-in vote-counting before Election Day. Some states, like Pennsylvania, do not start counting until in-person voting is completed.
Dr. 迈克尔·亚当斯, chair of the political science department at 德克萨斯南方大学, 相信在这次选举之后, 这种情况可能会改变. 与此同时，他敦促人们保持耐心.
"I don't think we should be in a hurry because when you go back to 2000, it took us almost a month for those to come in,亚当斯告诉ABC13电视台. "Last I checked, since 1937, Inauguration Day is on Jan. 20 so we have a lot of time 和 it shouldn't be a rush to judgment."
布朗宁同意, 20年后, he still remembers the stress of the spotlight 和 has empathy for the election workers who are still counting.
"You're trying to get your job done 和 defend the system at the same time. It was total constant pressure," he said.
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