Paul Nolty is President of the Election
Tabulation Network, the company that maintains the vote counting machines
in three of the four disputed Florida counties (Palm, Broward, Miami-Dade,
and Volusia). He has stated that under Florida law, and also based on actual
tests, these machines cannot have even one error in one million ballots
counted by machine.
The final certified vote included an additional
450 vote differential for Al Gore in Broward county due to the improper
and illegal counting of ballots with "dimpled chad" in the position for
Al Gore's hole, even when other holes in the same ballot were clearly punched
all the way through.
Also, Republican observers charged that
"dimpled chads" were being counted for Gore but not for Bush.
Those engaging in election fraud have claimed
that vote counting machines have a large inaccuracy of 3 to 5 percent (one
in every 20 ballots are counted wrong). They have used these claims as
an excuse to perform manual hand re-counts
which have been used to commit additional election fraud.
The actual difference in vote counts in
all of Florida's 67 counties for the first and second machine counts, show
that 12 counties have no difference, and other than Gadsden county (1.31
percent difference), all counties had noticeably less than 1 percent difference.
The vote count differences were probably due to punching new holes in the
ballots or removal of loose chad pieces from punch holes in the ballots.
Note that some counties use optically scanned ballots which do not involve
punching holes. In the table below of all Florida
counties, vote count differences of 0.25% or more are shown in red,
and differences from 0.1% to 0.25% are shown in blue.
Nassau County is not marked due to the explanation
given after the table. The following summary table represents the data
in the Florida counties table.
Range of Change for
Machine Counts 1 and 2 |
Number of Counties
in Range |
| > 1% (1.31%) |
1 |
| 0.50% to 1.00% |
2 |
| 0.25% to 0.50% |
2 |
| 0.10% to 0.25% |
11 |
| 0.00% to 0.10% |
39 |
| 0.00% |
12 |
|
| FRAUD FACTOR |
First Machine Count1 |
Second Machine Count |
"New Found Votes"1 |
Florida
County |
Bush
Votes
1 |
Gore
Votes
1 |
Bush
Votes
2 |
Gore
Votes
2 |
Bush
Change |
Gore
Change |
Total
Change
Percent |
| Alachua |
34,062 |
47,300 |
34,124 |
47,365 |
62 |
65 |
0.16% |
| Baker |
5,610 |
2,392 |
5,610 |
2,392 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Bay |
38,637 |
18,850 |
38,637 |
18,850 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Bradford |
5,413 |
3,072 |
5,414 |
3,075 |
1 |
3 |
0.05% |
| Brevard |
115,185 |
97,318 |
115,185 |
97,318 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Broward |
177,279 |
386,518 |
177,323 |
386,561 |
44 |
43 |
0.02% |
| Calhoun |
2,873 |
2,155 |
2,873 |
2,155 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Charlott |
35,419 |
29,641 |
35,426 |
29,645 |
7 |
4 |
0.02% |
| Citrus |
29,744 |
25,501 |
29,766 |
25,525 |
22 |
24 |
0.08% |
| Clay2 |
41,745 |
14,630 |
41,736 |
14,632 |
-9 |
2 |
-0.01% |
| Collier |
60,426 |
29,905 |
60,433 |
29,918 |
7 |
13 |
0.02% |
| Columbia |
10,964 |
7,047 |
10,964 |
7,047 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| De Soto |
4,256 |
3,322 |
4,256 |
3,320 |
0 |
-2 |
-0.03% |
| Dixie2 |
2,698 |
1,825 |
2,697 |
1,826 |
-1 |
1 |
0.00% |
| Duval |
152,082 |
107,680 |
152,098 |
107,864 |
16 |
184 |
0.08% |
| Escambia2 |
73,029 |
40,958 |
73,017 |
40,943 |
-12 |
-15 |
-0.02% |
| Flagler |
12,608 |
13,891 |
12,613 |
13,897 |
5 |
6 |
0.04% |
| Franklin |
2,448 |
2,042 |
2,454 |
2,046 |
6 |
4 |
0.22% |
| Gadsden |
4,750 |
9,565 |
4,767 |
9,735 |
17 |
170 |
1.31% |
| Gilchris |
3,300 |
1,910 |
5,210 |
1,910 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Glades |
1,840 |
1,440 |
1,841 |
1,442 |
1 |
2 |
0.09% |
| Gulf |
3,546 |
2,389 |
3,550 |
2,397 |
4 |
8 |
0.20% |
| Hamilton2 |
2,153 |
1,718 |
2,146 |
1,722 |
-7 |
4 |
-0.08% |
| Hardee2 |
3,764 |
2,341 |
3,765 |
2,339 |
1 |
-2 |
-0.02% |
| Hendry |
4,743 |
3,239 |
4,747 |
3,240 |
4 |
1 |
0.06% |
| Hernando |
30,646 |
32,644 |
30,646 |
32,644 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Highlands |
20,196 |
14,152 |
20,206 |
14,167 |
10 |
15 |
0.07% |
| Hillsborough |
180,713 |
169,529 |
180,760 |
169,557 |
47 |
28 |
0.02% |
| Holmes |
4,985 |
2,154 |
5,011 |
2,177 |
26 |
23 |
0.69% |
| Indian River2 |
28,627 |
19,769 |
28,635 |
19,768 |
8 |
-1 |
0.01% |
| Jackson |
9,138 |
6,868 |
9,138 |
6,868 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Jefferson2 |
2,481 |
3,038 |
2,478 |
3,041 |
-3 |
3 |
0.00% |
| Lafayete |
1,669 |
788 |
1,670 |
789 |
1 |
1 |
0.08% |
| Lake |
49,963 |
36,555 |
50,010 |
36,571 |
16 |
47 |
0.07% |
| Lee |
106,123 |
73,530 |
106,141 |
73,560 |
18 |
30 |
0.03% |
| Leon |
39,053 |
61,425 |
39,053 |
61,425 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Levy |
6,860 |
5,403 |
6,858 |
5,398 |
-2 |
-5 |
-0.06% |
| Liberty |
1,316 |
1,011 |
1,317 |
1,017 |
1 |
6 |
0.30% |
| Madison |
3,038 |
3,011 |
3,038 |
3,014 |
0 |
3 |
0.05% |
| Manatee |
57,948 |
49,169 |
57,952 |
49,177 |
4 |
8 |
0.01% |
| Marion |
55,135 |
44,648 |
55,141 |
44,665 |
6 |
17 |
0.02% |
| Martin |
33,864 |
26,619 |
33,970 |
26,620 |
106 |
1 |
0.18% |
| Miami-Dade |
289,456 |
328,702 |
289,492 |
328,764 |
36 |
62 |
0.02% |
| Monroe |
16,059 |
16,483 |
16,059 |
16,483 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Nassau2,3 |
16,404 |
6,952 |
16,280 |
6,879 |
-124 |
-73 |
-0.84% |
| Okaloosa |
52,043 |
16,924 |
52,093 |
16,948 |
50 |
24 |
0.11% |
| Okeechobee |
5,058 |
4,588 |
5,057 |
4,588 |
-1 |
0 |
-0.01% |
| Orange |
134,476 |
140,115 |
134,517 |
140,220 |
41 |
105 |
0.05% |
| Osceola2 |
26,216 |
28,177 |
26,212 |
28,181 |
-4 |
4 |
0.00% |
| Palm
Beach |
152,846 |
268,945 |
152,954 |
269,696 |
108 |
751 |
0.20% |
| Pasco |
68,581 |
69,550 |
68,582 |
69,564 |
1 |
14 |
0.01% |
| Pinellas2 |
184,884 |
200,212 |
184,823 |
200,629 |
-61 |
417 |
0.09% |
| Polk |
90,101 |
74,977 |
90,191 |
75,196 |
90 |
219 |
0.19% |
| Putnam |
13,439 |
12,091 |
13,447 |
12,102 |
8 |
11 |
0.07% |
| Santa Rosa |
36,248 |
12,795 |
36,274 |
12,802 |
26 |
7 |
0.07% |
| Sarasota |
83,100 |
72,854 |
83,100 |
72,853 |
0 |
-1 |
0.00% |
| Seminole |
75,293 |
58,888 |
75,677 |
59,174 |
384 |
286 |
0.50% |
| St John's |
39,497 |
19,482 |
39,546 |
19,502 |
49 |
20 |
0.12% |
| St Lucie |
34,705 |
41,559 |
34,705 |
41,559 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Sumter |
12,126 |
9,634 |
12,127 |
9,637 |
1 |
3 |
0.02% |
| Suwannee2 |
8,014 |
4,084 |
8,006 |
4,075 |
-8 |
-9 |
-0.14% |
| Taylor |
4,050 |
2,647 |
4,056 |
2,649 |
6 |
2 |
0.12% |
| Union |
2,326 |
1,399 |
2,332 |
1,407 |
6 |
8 |
0.38% |
| Volusia |
82,214 |
97,063 |
82,214 |
97,063 |
0 |
0 |
0.00% |
| Wakulla |
4,511 |
3,835 |
4,512 |
3,838 |
1 |
3 |
0.05% |
| Walton |
12,176 |
5,637 |
12,182 |
5,642 |
6 |
5 |
0.06% |
| Washington |
4,983 |
2,796 |
4,994 |
2,798 |
11 |
2 |
0.17% |
| TOTAL |
2,909,
135 |
2,907,
351 |
2,910,
198 |
2,909,
871 |
1,063 |
2,520 |
0.06% |
1Source
of vote count data: Associated Press web site.
2The
error percentage needs to be adjusted to take
into account negative numbers,
i.e., where Gore gained
votes and Bush lost votes,
or vice versa, or both lost
votes.
3An
explanation
of the discrepancy for Nassau County is
given below. |
|
Explanations
An explanation of the discrepancy for
Nassau County is as follows:
In Nassau County, the board was accused
of violating Florida law by adding votes from earlier tabulations that
had been rejected by the board as illegal.
However, the facts as reported are as follows:
-
On election night, all the votes were
counted, but during the machine recount, 218 ballots were accidentally
separated from the rest, and not counted. As a result, Bush received
124 fewer votes and Gore received 73 fewer votes than on election night.
-
After the recount, the Nassau County Board
supervisor discovered her mistake, and tried to correct it. Because
the Supreme Court of Florida had held the date open for final certification
until Sunday at 5:00 p.m., the Division of Elections informed the supervisor
that she could revise the count to make it accurate.
-
The Board (2 Democrats and 1 Republican)
voted unanimously to certify the original election night count - which
included the 218 ballots - rather than the machine recount total (which
mistakenly omitted those ballots).
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