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A Clear Explanation of the Miami Herald Report Last week Knight-Ridder's MIAMI HERALD reported that its independent study of the Florida undervotes showed that Bush won. In the same article we were told that Gore won. Then the next day the Miami Herald published another article saying Gore won. By that time the Knight-Ridder papers around the nation had the "Bush won" story on its front pages, and so did the New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today, the latter having co-authored the study. So what's the story? Since the Herald based its conclusion that Bush won upon documented research by BDO Seidman, LLP, an accounting firm, research that was paid for by the Herald and USA Today, let's look at the two Miami Herald graphic summaries of the documentation given to it from which it wrote its story. Our analysis will follow... As you can see from the documentation that the Miami Herald worked with, Gore beat Bush in Florida undervotes by 1323 votes. Since Bush was ahead by 537 votes in the official Florida count, Gore is now ahead by 786 votes. Please keep in mind that the overvotes have yet to be counted. The Knight-Rider folks claim they will report on that within a month, leading one to wonder if the same degree of confusion in their reports will again take place. Then there will be a later, larger report conducted by the University of Chicago and sponsored by a group of major national newspapers. How then, you might ask, did so many major newspapers get it wrong? And why? For that, you may consult the bibliography of explanations below. Keep in mind that all of this is irrelevant to the basic documented fact that the Miami Herald report has Gore presently winning in the Florida recount. All Bush can do is stand by and declare the recount irrelevant, have his people pressure media owners, editors, and reporters to put his spin on every scrap of data that could be spun to suggest that he won, and let the normal processes of his corporate republic do the rest. --Politex, 4/9/01 Bibliography Original Miami Herald Recount Story Says Bush Won http://www.miami.com/herald/special/news/flacount/docs/032868.htm Miami Herald Recount Story the Next Day Says Gore Won http://www.miami.com/herald/special/news/flacount/docs/038575.htm Headlines to the contrary, the Miami Herald count shows that Gore won http://www.consortiumnews.com/040501a.html http://www.consortiumnews.com/040601a.html How the Miami Herald Lied About Their Own Recount http://www.american-politics.com/20010404MiamiHerald.html Study Finds Some Ballots Unaccounted For http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/05/politics/05VOTE.html Officials Often Ignore Code's Call for Inspection of "Defective" Ballots http://www.miami.com/herald/special/news/flacount/docs/005945.htm Ballots in Black Florida Precincts Invalidated More http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010406/3212359s.htm Firm Says Florida Was Warned About Voters Being Denied http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/sunday/news_6.html Florida Court in the Crosshairs in Wake of "Gore v. Bush" http://www.law.com/cgi-bin/nwlink.cgi?ACG=ZZZ6USPIYKC Florida Changes Controversial Voting Policy http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/abc/20010326/pl/floridafelonvote_010321_1.html The Legitimacy of Legal and Political Institutions in a Divided Polity http://artsci.wustl.edu/~legit/ Rampant Flaws Leave Citizens Without Voice in Democracy http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010406/3212291s.htm for the industrial strength version... Bush Watch is a non-advocacy site paid for by Politex, a non-affiliated U.S. citizen. Editorial Policy: All entries are dated and documented as needed. Text (c) Politex. Permission of author required for reprinting. Duration of working link not under our control. Updated daily at various times. Send all e-mail to Politex.