Student voter protest at Florida courthouse ends; no meeting with state official
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (CNN) -- Hundreds of students from Florida A&M university ended their sit-in at the Leon County Courthouse in Tallahassee on Friday, but as they disbanded, they voiced anger and disappointment that they were not able to speak to the Florida secretary of state about alleged voting irregularities.
"We expect accountability from the secretary of state and the attorney general's office for our elections," the group, led by the university's student government association and largely comprised of African-American students, said in a statement. "We want to know our voices are being heard and our votes count."
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Division of Elections Director Clay Roberts, left, addresses hundreds of students spending the night while taking part in a Capitol rotunda sit-in, Thursday, in Tallahassee, Florida.
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Students from the historically black college marched to the courthouse and the state Capitol building Thursday to protest what they described as voting discrepancies in several Florida counties during the presidential election. The protest came amid Florida's vote recount to determine whether Republican George W. Bush or Democrat Al Gore would reap the state's 25 electoral votes -- and with them, the presidency.
They had hoped to voice their concerns directly to Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and students spent the night in the courthouse in hopes of a meeting. They left only because police informed them the building would be closed in observance of Veterans' Day.
Elsewhere, more than 100 students staged a sit-in Thursday inside the Capitol.
"We implore state officials to consider a new election statewide, or
at least a new election" in some individual counties, R.J. Howard, student
body president, said Thursday.
Howard said that some students were turned away from polling places or were given "misleading and contradictory information" about voting sites.
"This has led us to be concerned about other precincts around the state that may have faced the same or similar circumstances," he said.
"This is about justice," Howard said as students occupied the lobby of the
Capitol. "This is about our vote."
CNN's Brian Cabell contributed to this report
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