Election Protests Spread Across USA

AUSTIN, TEXAS – As friction thickened between the two sides outside the Governor’s Mansion in Austin, Department of Public Safety officers worked to keep the protest peaceful and the demonstrators out of the streets. Police also escorted marchers in Seattle.

Holding up a sign that read “Don’t get Snippy. Americans want a fair election,” Penny Van Horn, in Austin, said the Florida voting problems should be addressed before a president is named. “I really don’t care who wins. I’ll be happy as long as this is treated fairly,” she said.

In Seattle, Los Angeles and New York, scores of protesters flocked to rally points Saturday listed on a Web site called Countercoup.

The site, which lists rallies in most states, says: “The nightmare has come true: A candidate has won the popular vote but lost the White House,” and it urges voters to take a stand.

“This is not about Bush. This is not about Gore. This is about the American voters and the true voice of the American will,” Justin Doff said at the Los Angeles rally. Around him, protesters demanding a new vote in Florida chanted “Re-Vote or Revolt.”

The protests came as Republicans went to court in Florida hoping to prevent the hand counting of votes requested by the Democrats. After one unofficial recount, Bush appeared to have a hair’s-breadth lead over Gore.

The incomplete national vote totals still showed Gore leading in the popular vote, though by a slim margin.

“If Gore won the popular vote, he should be president, said Darrin Hoop, a 26-year-old United Parcel Service driver who joined a protest march through downtown Seattle.

Some in the crowd urged voters to write to the Electoral College, the election commission and the Florida governor. “We in Seattle stand for democracy,” Mark Taylor-Canfield told the cheering crowd. “And we are not going to go away without a fight.”

In New York’s Times Square, Jennifer Grenert carried a sign that read “Bush: What are you scared of? Count the vote.” She said she decided to protest after hearing about the Republican request for the injunction.

Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher defends the Gore campaign’s decision to seek manual vote recounts in certain Florida counties.

Former Secretary of State James A. Baker discusses the Bush campaign’s opposition to further vote recounts in Florida.

Republican Andy Rebber passed by a dog clad with a pro-Gore sign and mumbled, “I bet that dog could figure out that ballot.” Rebber, 32, said the election fiasco is damaging global perceptions of the United States.

“They’re making us look like a banana republic,” Rebber said of the Democrats. “All the Republicans are trying to do is what’s good for the country. We are the bedrock of democracy. This stuff happens in Serbia, not in the U.S.”

In Palm Beach County, Fla., about 200 demonstrators gathered Friday in front of the building housing the elections office for a second day of noisy protests over the disputed vote.

“High-tech America, low tech voting system,” one sign said. “Voters should have read their sample ballot,” said another.

The frenzy of lawyers, journalists and politicians once again flocking to Florida brought comparisons with the saga of Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez, who was grabbed from his Miami relatives by U.S. agents amid a legal battle and who was eventually returned to Cuba with his father.

The furor brought troops of lawyers for both candidates as well as aides. The Rev. Jesse Jackson also flew in.

Crowds of mostly Gore supporters began gathering before noon Thursday at the Palm Beach County Governmental Center, where Jackson led a rally demanding a new election in the county.