Presidential Election Cases George W. Bush, et al. v. Albert Gore, Jr., et al.
The December 12 per curiam opinion in Bush v. Gore
The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to end the manual recount of presidential under-votes (ballots
on which vote-counting machines did not detect a vote) ordered by the Florida Supreme
Court.
The majority concluded that the differing standards employed in different Florida counties for ascertaining voter intent violated the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution.
The unsigned majority opinion reversing the Florida Supreme Court was joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy and O'Connor.
Justices Scalia and Thomas joined Chief Justice Rehnquist's concurring opinion to state that they also believed there were additional grounds for reversing the Florida Supreme Court’s decision.
Dissenting Justices Souter and Breyer agreed with the majority that the differing standards employed in different Florida counties during the recount presented equal protection problems, but reasoned that the Florida courts ought to be given the opportunity to remedy the defects so as to conduct a recount before the Electoral College meets on December 18.
Dissenting Justices Stevens and Ginsburg concluded that Gov. Bush had failed to present a substantial equal protection claim.
