Was Every Vote Counted?

The Justice Department has sent investigators to Florida to look at complaints that African-Americans and other minorities were denied a chance to vote.

"We have two people in Florida, but this is still part of our inquiry to gather information to see what if any federal investigation is warranted," Justice Department spokeswoman Kara Peterman said on Sunday.

In this presidential election that was so close, the phrase "every vote counts" has been uttered time and again by Democrat Al Gore's camp. But in Florida, the question is: Was every vote counted?

CBS News Correspondent Jeffrey Kofman reports a record number of African-Americans voted in Florida last month - almost 900 thousand, up 65 percent from the last election - but that there is growing evidence that many of those votes weren't counted.

"There's a pattern of intentional racial profiling of voting while black. It's sinister," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who along with the NAACP have called on the Justice Department to launch a civil rights investigation.

Claiming "a clear pattern of voter suppression of African-American votes," Jackson said Sunday in the Florida state capital of Tallahassee that "African-Americans were targeted to be disenfranchised."

The NAACP says it plans to file a lawsuit early this week alleging voter intimidation and other violations of voting rights.

The Justice Department is looking into five hundred complaints that blacks were confused by ballots or weren't allowed to vote. It has authority to bring criminal prosecutions against anyone who denies someone's right to vote. The department also can bring civil lawsuits in some circumstances to alter racially discriminatory voting procedures in the future. But it has no authority for any action that might change voting totals from the Nov. 7 election.

Also, The Washington Post in its Sunday edition published a computer analysis that found that in overwhelmingly black precincts in Florida, many presidential votes weren't counted, because of outmoded voting machines and confusion over ballots.

Consider the Jacksonville area, for example. In heavily white precincts, one in 14 ballots was thrown out. In largely black areas, one in five ballots was rejected.

To veterans of the civil rights battles, all this smacks of an era when blacks were subjected to literacy tests before they were allowed to vote.

"It is very sad that 35 years later, after the march from Selma to Montgomery, Bloody Sunday, to something like this taking place. It is almost like living your life over again," said Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)

Republicans insist if there were problems, they should be blamed on the system, not on a conspiracy.

And so, this is an issue about race. But in an election that is so close, it is also about the outcome. In Florida, 93 percent of African Americans voted for Gore.