Florida Primary 2012: What Could Go Wrong? 5 Past Election Controversies

By Sara Dover: Subscribe to Sara's RSS feed

January 31, 2012 3:46 PM EST

Elections may be the bedrock of democracy, but counting votes is a complicated process. As Floridians head to the polls Tuesday to vote for a Republican candidate to go up against President Barack Obama, notorious past controversies from the Sunshine State come to mind.

The 2012 election season has already experienced voting confusion. Two weeks after the Iowa caucuses, certified results showed that Rick Santorum beat Mitt Romney by 34 votes, rather than lose to the Massachusetts ex-governor by eight votes as originally believed. According to the Des Moines Register, paper ballots are still missing from eight precincts.

The infamous recount of the 2000 presidential race isn't Florida's only election mishap. Below is a list of some voting controversies that have occurred there over the years.

The "Butterfly" Ballot (2000 Presidential Race)

The word "recount" itself brings up bitter memories from the 2000 presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Part of the reason election officials didn't get the right tally the first time was because the "butterfly" ballot confused Palm Beach County voters.

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In butterfly ballots, the candidate's names are listed on two wide columns and arrows point to the correct circle to punch in the center (see picture above). But Palm Beach voters - many of which them senior citizens - didn't always follow the arrow to the right punch hole.

The paper ballots are generally much clearer this time around, with candidates divided by lines and no arrows to follow.

Hanging Chads (2000 Presidential Race)

Another reason why Florida needed to recount their results from the 2000 presidential race was because of the "chad" system.

Chads are paper fragments caused by punching holes in paper. In voting, citizens punch in the box corresponding to the candidate of their choice and the chad would fall into a designated place. Poll officials would then measure the chads.

The problem with chads, however, is that they must be properly punched in order to work smoothly. In the 2000 election, officials bickered over "dimpled" chads, indents in the ballot paper that could have indicated a vote, and "hanging" chads, when the paper didn't quite cut through on all sides.

Hanging chads are so controversial they have made its way into pop culture. In the "How I Met Your Mother" episode called "The Slutty Pumpkin Returns," Ted dresses up as a hanging chad for Halloween.

Ted Mosby dressed as a hanging chad.