Reply #16: This article suggests the difference is 380,978 votes

[Karmadillo]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/epaper/2004/11/15/m4b_elex_1115.html

TALLAHASSEE Ñ — The 2004 presidential election in Florida officially ended Sunday with so little fanfare and media attention that one of the state canvassing commission members didn't even bother to show up.

In fact, none of them did.

Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher called in to the certification ceremony, which lasted a brief 10 minutes and was conducted by Secretary of State Glenda Hood, Florida's top elections official.

But Attorney General Charlie Crist, the third member of the state Elections Canvassing Commission, was nowhere to be found, despite the best efforts of staff members to reach him by cellphone.

Sunday's ceremony held no surprises: President Bush defeated Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry by 380,978 votes, a far cry from his 537-vote victory margin four years ago. And this time, Florida was spared the weeks of legal wrangling, recounts and the dimpled and pregnant chads that made the state the butt of late-night TV monologues.

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