TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) - For 36 days in 2000, the world watched Florida election workers examine ballot after ballot, trying to determine the fate of the presidency.

The 2000 presidential election was the last time Florida’s 25 electoral college votes were truly up for grabs. A media frenzy in Tallahassee waited for more than a month to see if Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next president.

As the United States celebrates 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, WCTV and its parent company, Gray Media, are taking a moment to celebrate our local history. Our “We The People” series commemorates and honors local history in the Big Bend and South Georgia.

Mike Vasalinda, a journalist who covered the Florida Capitol for nearly 50

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