# Did Diebold throw Florida for Bush in 2000? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 18, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diebold-throw-florida-for-bush-in-2000/260366 "2004-08-18T07:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MaleBox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MaleBox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaleBox)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diebold-throw-florida-for-bush-in-2000/260366/41 "2004-08-20T14:26:02Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > If Diebold WAS cheating on Bush’s behalf, they sure did a lousy job of it! Why did they have him win by only a few hundred votes, which could easily have been overcome in a recount? Why didn’t they give him a landslide? Or at least a COMFORTABLE lead? > > If there WAS a conspiracy (and frankly, this sounds like more of rjung’s usual tinfoil-hat stuff), I’d say G.W. Bush should call Diebold and demand a refund! > > Sigh… it’s so hard to hire good conspirators! Well, speaking on behalf of the devil (he’s real busy this morning)…maybe they thought the (true) electorate was closer than it was, so that a few precincts with several thousand extra Bush votes would make it a lock. Then it turned out Gore had a bigger lead in Florida than they anticipated, so their cheating just pushed it to half. It’s hard to get a conspiracy going in too many precincts…you’re more likely to be found out. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diebold-throw-florida-for-bush-in-2000/260366/42 "2004-08-20T23:32:20Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Oh, so _that’s_ what “the electorate was basically split down the middle” means in your dialect. The “context” of your post was that we shouldn’t bother trying to figure out the winner if the count is close enough. You misunderstood. Deal. What “the electorate was basically split down the middle” means is that about half of the voters prefered each candidate. As opposed to being “fairly solidly” in favor of one candidate. > [@](#): > > _I actually agree we should go to a straight popular count. Are you surprised?_ ## Not at all. The last poll numbers I saw showed that a majority of both Democrats and Independents in favor of abolishing the Electoral College along with a substantial minority of Republicans. Now if you agreed that we should also abolish the Senate and either get rid of judicial review or modify Article 5 to allow a persistent majority to amend the Constitution then I would be surprised. Pleasantly so. Because that’s the minimum it would take to convert the US government to majority rule. > [@](#): > > _I certainly do “have standing” as a citizen to oppose your suggestion that we should simply ignore rules we personally dislike rather than bother changing them._ ## I made no such suggestion. But of course you are free to dissent. I didn’t really mean you had no right to question me. I was attempting to point out the incongruity of being questioned in that manner by someone more conservative than I. ---
**Author:** ![braintree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@braintree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/braintree)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diebold-throw-florida-for-bush-in-2000/260366/43 "2004-08-21T11:30:27Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > If Diebold WAS cheating on Bush’s behalf, they sure did a lousy job of it! Why did they have him win by only a few hundred votes, which could easily have been overcome in a recount? Why didn’t they give him a landslide? Or at least a COMFORTABLE lead? Why, it’s simplicity itself, Astorian. Voting methods in Florida are determined on a county-by-county basis. Remember the infamous “butterfly ballot” in Palm Beach county? Pure paper. Volusia county was all electronic. There you go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diebold-throw-florida-for-bush-in-2000/260366.md?page=2)