Last November 7 American citizens over 18 years of age cast ballots to decide who will be the one to call White House home for the next four years. Remaining under the rule of Democrats led by Al Gore or forging the change by favoring Republican George Bush was the true election Americans faced that day.

This presidential race has emerged as the closest in American history to such an extent that three days after being held it is still uncertain who will sit on the presidential chair. Analyzing the ballots result the first conclusion holds that Americans are politically divided into two equal halves.

According to the polls both Bush and Gore have won nine out of ten traditional voters of their respective parties while independent voters may have the casting vote. The big surprise of the election was the Latino vote, which despite the importance it has been gathering in recent months, it was proved highly influential due to the fact that the 32 million Hispanics in the country live in five of the states with greater number of electoral college votes (Florida, Texas, New York, Illinois and California).

Although the countrywide outcome of the election is scheduled for next November 17 –legal deadlock to receive overseas absentee ballots- the true controversy has been sparked by the state of Florida, where due to a canvassing error a recount was conducted reporting marked differences in the outcome. Finally, the margin favoring Bush, which in the first tally had reported 1,784 votes, has now reduced to only 327, according to official sources.

US Candidates and Electoral System