Not Counting Black Votes

In the 2000 election, 1.9 million votes cast were never counted. Spoiled for technical reasons, like writing in Gore’s name, machine malfunctions and so on. The reasons for ballot rejection vary, but there’s a suspicious shading to the ballots tossed into the dumpster. Edley’s team of Harvard experts discovered that just as in Florida, the number of ballots spoiled was–county by county, precinct by precinct–in direct proportion to the local black voting population.

Florida’s racial profile mirrors the nation’s–both in the percentage of voters who are black and the racial profile of the voters whose ballots don’t count. “In 2000, a black voter in Florida was ten times as likely to have their vote spoiled–not counted–as a white voter,” explains political scientist Philip Klinkner, co-author of Edley’s Harvard report. “National figures indicate that Florida is, surprisingly, typical."