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[[Image:Goregaia.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Gore, an environmental cultist, pursued a hapless attempt to stuff the ballot box during recounts as vengeance against Republicans for the impeachment of Bill Clinton.]]  

[[Image:Goregaia.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Gore, an environmental cultist, pursued a hapless attempt to stuff the ballot box during recounts as vengeance against Republicans for the impeachment of Bill Clinton.]]  

:{{See also|Bush v. Gore}}

:{{See also|Bush v. Gore}}

The legacy TV networks, in a rush to be the first to present results, made false calls in Florida. Each  network used the same exit poll data, which contained a small math error for Florida.  The networks first called Florida for Gore, then for Bush. They should have said it was too close to call.  Worse (and some believe, deliberately), the networks called Florida after the polls closed in the Eastern Time Zone part of the state (which is heavily Democratic) but while they were still open in the Central Time Zone part (the Florida panhandle, which is heavily Republican due to the large military bases located there).

The legacy TV networks, in a rush to be the first to present results, made false calls in Florida. Each  network used the same exit poll data, which contained a small math error for Florida.  The networks first called Florida for Gore, then for Bush. They should have said it was too close to call.  Worse (and some believe, deliberately), the networks called Florida after the polls closed in the Eastern Time Zone part of the state (which is heavily Democrat-leaning) but while they were still open in the Central Time Zone part (the Florida panhandle, which is heavily Republican due to the large military bases located there).

One of the potential keys to Gore losing Florida was the unusual style of paper ballot used in Palm Beach County, a South Florida county which has a large Jewish population and is historically a Democratic stronghold.

One of the potential keys to Gore losing Florida was the unusual style of paper ballot used in Palm Beach County, a South Florida county which has a large Jewish population and is historically a Democrat stronghold.

The ballot style required voters to choose their choice for President/Vice President by punching paper ballots; however, instead of listing all the candidates on one side, the candidates were listed on alternating sides of the ballot (in larger print to assist the large number of elderly voters; the alternating list gave rise to the "[[butterfly ballot]]" nickname).  The top of the line showing "Gore-Lieberman", however, overlapped with the ballot punch hole for the Reform Party ticket of "[[Pat Buchanan]]-Ezola Foster"; notwithstanding a clearly-marked arrow directing voters to the correct punch hole, Buchanan (considered by many a notorious anti-Semite) received an unusually high number of votes in a county with a sizeable Jewish population.

The ballot style required voters to choose their choice for President/Vice President by punching paper ballots; however, instead of listing all the candidates on one side, the candidates were listed on alternating sides of the ballot (in larger print to assist the large number of elderly voters; the alternating list gave rise to the "[[butterfly ballot]]" nickname).  The top of the line showing "Gore-Lieberman", however, overlapped with the ballot punch hole for the Reform Party ticket of "[[Pat Buchanan]]-Ezola Foster"; notwithstanding a clearly-marked arrow directing voters to the correct punch hole, Buchanan (considered by many a notorious anti-Semite) received an unusually high number of votes in a county with a sizeable Jewish population.