Florida has issued a call for help to the Justice Department, in an attempt to prevent a recurrence of the poll chaos that reigned on primary day.

Florida Secretary of State Jim Smith wrote in a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft that problems in Miami-Dade and Broward counties during last week’s primary rattled confidence in the state’s efforts to reform its election system.

It appears that Bill McBride narrowly defeated former Attorney General Janet Reno in last week’s Democratic primary for governor.

But despite a $32 million overhaul of Florida’s election system after the 2000 presidential election scandal, polls opened late, polls closed early, some voters had wrong precinct information and some voting machines were closed down improperly so votes weren’t recorded.

And the tens of thousands of African-Americans who were purged from the voting rolls before the 2000 presidential election are still purged from the rolls.

Meanwhile, the main players in the Florida presidential election scandal are riding high.

Katherine Harris won the Republican primary in her run for a seat in Congress. And Jeb Bush won the Republican primary in his bid for re-election as governor.

Today, as Florida is once again in electoral chaos, tens of thousands of African-Americans remain purged from the voter roles and as Bush pushes for a unilateral attack on Iraq, we ask, was it a coup? Was George W. Bush elected or selected president?

Tape:

• “Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election”, produced and directed by Joan Sekler and Richard Ray Perez of the Los Angeles Independent Media Center.