Hooray! The 2012 presidential election has been decided. Barack Obama wins!
Surprised? Probably not, since we knew nearly a week ago that President Obama was reelected to a 2nd term and Mitt Romney conceded. However, what we didn’t know were the results of the State of Florida, which once again channeled the horrific election of 2000 and presented us with yet another dramatic and unnecessary cliff-hanger. Surprise!
On Saturday, Florida finally completed counting its ballots and declared President Obama the winner of the state. This certifies the final tally of the 2012 election at 332 electoral votes for Mr. Obama and 206 for Mr. Romney and means the president swept all of the presumed battleground states.
Despite calls over the years to get its act together, Florida has consistently proven to be dysfunctional and delinquent in conducting an election. In what many call an attempt to favor Mitt Romney, Florida’s Republican governor Rick Scott cut early voting from 14 days to 8 days, then refused to extend it once the lines to vote became overcrowded and unbearable, prompting many voters to simply give up and walk away. This act of ignorance, along with a new 9 page ballot that required precise completion or else the risk of being deemed invalid, left many Florida voters waiting in line for up to 7 hours just to cast their ballot. One Miami-Dade voter tweeted that he was watching President Obama’s 1:52 am victory speech on his cell phone, while still standing in line to vote.
The voting process in Florida simply must get better. This can never be allowed to happen again. Perhaps the federal government may need to step in and run the election for the state since they consistently appear unable to do so themselves.
Still, it took Florida longer than anyone else in the country, but they’ve finally declared a winner: Barack Obama is their choice for president.
