Carol Roberts, 64, is one of three members of the
Palm Beach County, Florida election canvassing board. She is a former mayor and city commissioner of
West Palm Beach and an unabashed
Democrat.
During the 2000 presidential election, she was a strong advocate for a hand recount of the county’s votes. When the board was discussing possible penalties for recounting in defiance of the dictates of
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, Roberts asked, to the cheers of Democratic supporters, "What can they do to us? Do we go to jail? Because I’m willing to go to jail."
Because of her strong advocacy of the recount and her position as one of the county’s most prominent Democrats, she was the target of much criticism from
Republican supporters. Some tried to get her removed from the recount efforts and accused her of tampering with the ballots and even, ridiculously, eating
chad to hide evidence of this. She was the target of
death threats and was under police protection.