2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/2000-united-states-presidential-election-recount-in-florida

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the location?Florida, United States
2. What is the event?2000 United States presidential election recount
3. What happened in the 2000 Florida election that made it so close?The 2000 election in Florida was extremely close, with only a few hundred votes deciding who won the state. Because the margin was tiny, every single vote mattered a lot.
4. Why were the "hanging chads" a big problem during the recount?"Hanging chads" were small parts of a paper ballot that were only partially punched. They made it hard for people to see if a voter really wanted to choose a candidate.

Hanging Chad: A ballot where the punch-card was not fully detached, creating ambiguity in voter intent.
Equal Protection Clause: A part of the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment that prevents states from denying any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Stare Decisis: The legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent.