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ca News Staff A repeat of the voting irregularities in Florida in the 2000 presidential election 'seems likely' to occur in the next election, according to former US president Jimmy Carter. In a commentary in The Washington Post, Carter said that despite recommendations he helped draft in 2000, some of the basic international requirements for a fair election in Florida on Nov. "The disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely, even as many other nations are conducting elections that are internationally certified to be transparent, honest and fair," said Carter. Carter also said there was "bias" in the 2000 vote, which saw US President George Bush beat out Al Gore by 537 votes in Florida. The vote went to a recount due to problems with the punch-cards used by voters. The US Supreme Court later ruled 5-4 to stop the recounts, effectively handing victory to Bush. Carter's comments come just days before Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry participate in their first TV debate. The Florida vote After the 2000 election, Carter and former president Gerald Ford led a commission that recommended changes to the electoral process in the US Those reforms have still not been implemented, he said. The most significant requirement that is missing is a nonpartisan electoral commission or official. Carter noted that Florida's top election official in 2000, Secretary of State Katharine Harris, was also co-chair of Bush's state campaign committee. Her successor, Glenda Hood, is showing the "same strong bias," said Carter. He also noted that a "fumbling attempt" has been made recently to disqualify the ballots of several thousand ballots of African Americans -- likely Democrats -- but only 61 Hispanics, who were probably Republicans, as alleged felons. "Florida's governor, Jeb Bush, naturally a strong supporter of his brother, has taken no steps to correct these departures from principles of fair and equal treatment or to prevent them in the future," wrote Carter. "It is unconscionable to perpetuate fraudulent or biased electoral practices in any nation. It is especially objectionable among us Americans, who have prided ourselves on setting a global example for pure democracy." Carter said that reforms were unlikely at this stage and "perhaps the only recourse will be to focus maximum public scrutiny on the suspicious process in Florida." Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, founded the Carter Center in 1982. The Center has been involved in monitoring international elections.
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