Film reveals problems in presidential election


The 2000 presidential election brought a time of anguish for thousands of voters who were allegedly told that they would not to be allowed to vote. The company responsible for processing the list of those who were reprieved of their voting rights was told to continue processing the list regardless of the fact they knew discrepancies would arise, according to a film titled Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election.
Monday night, the College Democrats presented the film, which chronicled the 2000 presidential election in the state of Florida.
The film tracked the events that led to voting problems in Florida, as well as the effects it had on the black community. Events that occurred before the elections, as well as the problems that arose in the recounting procedures, were also discussed.
When voters in the state of Florida cast their ballots in the presidential elections, some minority voters were turned away. The reason they were told was When voters in the state of Florida cast their ballots in the presidential elections, some minority voters were turned away. The reason, they were told, was that they were felons. According to the film, the majority of these voters were not felons at all.
These voters were the product of a list created by Database Technologies, which was ordered by Secretary of State Katherine Harris, to create a list of felons who would not be able to vote in the election. As the list was created, the company informed the secretary of state that the report would produce false positives in the reports, the film said.
Sean Kinane, chair of the Alliance of Concerned Students, said this fact was a shocking revelation of the voting process in the election of 2000.
ìDatabase Technologies told the secretary of state that they were going to get false positives,î Kinane said.ìThe secretary of state told them that this was OK, and that they wanted people to have their voting rights taken away even though they werenít felons.î
Boontarika Klinchongkol, a graduate student in chemical engineering, voiced her disbelief as to what she had seen in the film.
ìIt seemed like there were ways that process could have been handled better but was not,î Klinchongkol said. ìIt makes me feel really bad for those people who didnít get their votes counted.î
Otis Coliny, a student majoring in sociology, said the film taught him a valuable lesson that could be shared with the general public.
ìThis shows us that we should be very careful in who we vote for and who runs this country,î Coliny said. ìIt demonstrates that our votes can seriously make a difference.î