The Bush vs. Gore case was handled by the United States Supreme Court on 11 December 2000 and determined the outcome of the 2000 US presidential election. In three separate trial sessions, the judges decided with a majority of 7 to 2 that the recount of the cards that was taking place in some Florida counties had to be suspended due to a lack of coherent bases. In a further trial session it was established with a 5 to 4 majority that there was not enough time to establish the basis for a new recount that could have met the electoral terms in the State of Florida.
The court's decision stopped the recount of the votes and allowed Florida secretary of state Katherine Harris to validate George W. Bush's electoral victory in that state. The 25 votes of the great electors in Florida gave the Republican candidate the victory in the presidential elections.
The presidential elections took place on November 7, 2000. According to the US electoral system, each state conducts its own consultations for the choice of president and each candidate receives a different number of votes depending on the state in which he wins. Whoever obtains the majority of votes at the federal level is elected president of the United States of America. In 2000 the number of votes needed for the victory was 270.
On November 8, 2000, the electoral division report in Florida stated that Bush had a margin of victory of 1784 votes, equivalent to 0.5% difference. According to the Florida Statute, such a situation required an automatic recount of the votes. This process resulted in a restriction of the margin of victory for Bush and on 10 November, after the recount had ended in all the counties except one, this margin had been thinned until it reached 327 votes.
Florida electoral laws allow a candidate to request a manual recount of votes cast in a county, which Gore did for 4 cases in Florida: Volusia, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade, which consented to the procedure. However, according to these laws, all the counties had to declare their results to the Florida secretary of state within seven days of the elections, and many of the counties that carried out the manual recount did not believe they could meet this deadline. On November 14, the day the deadline expired, the Florida court declared that this deadline was mandatory, but that the counties could amend their results at a later date. Â
The dispute in the Bush vs. case Gore was brought before the court on December 11 by lawyers on both sides: for Bush by attorney Theodore B. Olson, from the District of Columbia and for Gore by David Boies. Given the importance of the case, the Supreme Court expressed its verdict only 16 hours after the hearings and the fate of the case was closely linked to the fate of the "Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board" case.
In my opinion, the Supreme Court should not have intervened in the electoral process. Although it was a complicated situation, which would take time to resolve, another solution could have been found that did not imply an intrusion of the Judicial Power in relation to the Executive Power. In addition, judicial participation in the electoral process constitutes a violation of the constitutional right to vote held by US citizens. Therefore, I think a solution should have been sought to finish the vote count.
