Election battle sparks protests, humor online

WASHINGTON (AP) _ In Florida, the presidential election won't end. Online, the protests and humorous jabs have only begun. <br><br>Internet sites devoted to what one entrepreneur calls the ``Perpetual

Thursday, November 16th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ In Florida, the presidential election won't end. Online, the protests and humorous jabs have only begun.

Internet sites devoted to what one entrepreneur calls the ``Perpetual Election'' have sprung up. They hawk ``Bush Wins'' newspapers and organize demonstrations and revote efforts. Amazon.com even used a mock ``butterfly'' ballot _ like the controversial one in Palm Beach County, Fla. _ to peddle books, music and lawn and patio products.

While the stalemate between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore drags on in the courts, cyberspace again has moved with speed and ease on the latest American fascination.

Jack Kennedy, a Democrat and circuit court clerk in Wise County, Va., created his own Web site so voters could flood the local court with e-mails demanding a new vote in Palm Beach County, at the heart of the disputed vote count.

His effort was born to ``spontaneous outrage that Al Gore would get more votes cast for him and still lose in the state of Florida,'' Kennedy said.

The site, Revotepalmbeach.com, offers a form that generates an e-mail to the circuit court in Palm Beach County requesting a revote there.

Since the morning after the Nov. 7 election, Trustthepeople.com has offered blank affidavits for Florida voters to sign if they believed their ballot was confusing.

As of late last week, the site _ set up by Democrats.com, which bills itself as ``the first online community for America's 100 million Democrats'' but is not affiliated with the national party _ had collected more than 3,000 affidavits.

Just as activists organized protests in 1999 against the World Trade Organization in Seattle, Countercoup.org is trying to organize ``pro-democracy'' demonstrations around the country against the Electoral College and vote-counting dispute in Florida.

Some protests organized through the site drew sizable crowds; attendees say there were 400 demonstrators in Boston and about 250 in Washington on Nov. 11. But some smaller cities didn't fare as well. An activist in Eau Claire, Wis., wrote that only five protesters showed up.

A site organized in part by online journalist Declan McCullagh declares itself the ``first and only news outlet devoted to the latest information on the first perpetual election the United States has seen.'' PerpetualElection.com solicits discussion about election developments.

Web entrepreneurs also are cashing in.

On eBay and other sites, enterprising auctioneers are trying to make anywhere from $5 to $20 by selling copies of newspapers that prematurely declared Republican candidate George W. Bush the new president. Newspapers from all over the country are available.

One eBay seller last week tried to sell a picture of the CNN.com home page with a headline reporting Bush the winner. The auction offer has since been removed by eBay for copyright reasons.

Much of the online activity involves Gore supporters. But Republicans have some efforts of their own.

Don Evans, chairman of the Bush campaign, used the huge GOP e-mail list to ask more than 900,000 supporters for donations to underwrite the Republican legal efforts in the Florida recount battle.

There also is plenty of Web humor.

On Taterbrains.com, Elmira, N.Y., cartoonist Mike Collins is selling a T-shirt with a sample ``Official Florida Election Ballot'' showing a straight line from Bush's name to his punch hole but a mess of squiggly lines leading to the punch holes of other candidates' names.

At online bookseller Amazon.com, spokesman Bill Curry said an employee with a ``whimsical brainstorm'' created a navigation menu designed like the infamous butterfly ballot.

Instead of Gore, Bush or Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, this ballot offered ``Books'' in the second spot on the left and ``Lawn and Patio'' in the first spot on the right.

``We're going to do a manual recount and see what the results are,'' Curry quipped.

The polls must have closed early: The ballot was gone by Wednesday.