Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MIAMI (AP) — There's another problem that's changed the order of finish in a beauty pageant -- this time, in Florida.
Officials of the Miss Florida Organization named a new Miss Florida after discovering a tabulation error in the judging. As a result, Elizabeth Fechtel, who won the crown last Saturday, is now the runner up. And the woman who had come in second -- Victoria Cowen -- is now the new Miss Florida. The change comes in the wake of a controversy in Delaware, where a winner was disqualified because she was older than the organization allowed.
In Florida, Executive Director Mary Sullivan says the tabulation error was noticed during a routine recount. She says a mark on one judge's ballot was inadvertantly overlooked. The ballots were retabulated by an independent auditor, and the contestants were notified of the correct results.
%@AP Links
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
