Gore outnumbered Bush on rejected ballots

A new analysis has shown that rejected Florida ballots for the US presidential election heavily favoured Al Gore.

Voters who punched more than one candidate's name were three times more likely to have included Gore as one of their choices as George W Bush, according to The Washington Post.

While both the former vice president and the new president may have lost votes intended for them, Democratic voters may have been significantly more likely to have their ballots thrown out, the Post reported.

The Post reviewed computerised records for 2.7 million votes in eight of Florida's largest counties.

Mr Gore was among those chosen on 46,000 of the invalid ballots, while Bush's name was punched on 17,000. Republicans argued that on the discarded ballots, it is impossible to know who the voter wanted to select.

Bush won Florida by 537 votes out of about 6 million cast, giving him the state's 25 electoral votes and thus the national election.

The Post said there were also indications that Democrats were more adversely affected by Palm Beach County's infamous "butterfly ballot" - which listed presidential candidates on both the left and right sides.

The study found that the 8,000 Palm Beach voters whose ballots were discarded because they voted for Mr Gore and another presidential candidate listed near Mr Gore's name, voted at a rate of 10 to 1 Democratic in the US Senate race.

Palm Beach County is heavily Democratic.