In 2000, Katherine Harris the Florida Secretary of State, who was actually the co-chair of George Bush's campaign, stopped the counting of ballots before it was even finished. There was never a "recount" in Florida because there was never a fully completed first count. Absentee ballots weren't even counted until months later, under an audit by a consortium of news outlets. The final tally showed that Al Gore had the most votes in Florida and should have been the 43rd President.