The Florida Court's decision seemed to end the confusion surrounding Florida's electoral certification process (see Certification & Challenge). This seemed to be a victory for American democracy -- unfortunately, the victory may be short-lived.

On Saturday, December 9th, the U.S. Supreme Court answered the Bush campaign's appeal by staying the Florida court decision (see Court in Review). The reigning U.S. court stopped the counting of undervotes that had begun in nearly every county in Florida. A Newsweek national poll shows the American people support a manual hand count of the election ballots (Illustration A).

A Divided Court; A Divided Nation
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision was divided along ideological lines. Justices Rehnquist, Kennedy, Thomas, O'Connor and Scalia voted to stop the manual counts (Illustration B); Justices Stevens, Souter, Breyer and Ginsburg opposed the majority decision (Illustration C).

Leading the dissenting group, Justice Stevens said, "Counting every legally cast vote cannot constitute irreparable harm... Preventing the recount from being completed will inevitably cast a cloud on the legitimacy of the election" (Illustration D)

Writing for the majority of the Court, Justice Scalia said that to, "Count first, and rule upon legality afterwards, is not a recipe for producing election results that have the public acceptance democratic stability requires" (Illustration E).

Scalia supported the decision to stay the manual recounting process noting that, "It suffices to say the issuance of the stay suggests that a majority of the Court, while not deciding the issues presented believe that the petitioner [George W. Bush] has a substantial probability of success."

On Monday, December 11th, the U.S Supreme Court will hear what may be the greatest presidential argument in American history. The Justices will listen to the oral testimony in the case, Bush v. Gore, at 11am EST. The Court will release an audio tape of the 90 minutes of argument immediately following the session. This is only the second time in history the U.S. Supreme Court provided an audio tape of the proceedings. The Court still does not allow video recording of sessions.

Ted Olson, a federalist lawyer, will represent the Bush campaign; David Boies, Gore's lead attorney in the Florida contest, will stand in opposition. The outcome, and possibly the legitimacy, of the 2000 presidential election may be decided by these nine appointed Justices.

Isn't this exciting -- see you Monday!

Just For Fun
Butterfly Ballots and Bifocals

Actual Palm Beach Florida Ballot

Proposed Florida Ballot

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