Questions and answers on court ruling, potential impact
12/09/2000
By Ed Timms and Pete Slover / The Dallas Morning News
As a result of Friday's Florida Supreme Court ruling, thousands of additional votes may be counted, more than enough to tilt the outcome in Vice President Al Gore's favor or to firm up the narrow lead that Gov. George W. Bush held after a formal certification of the state's election.
At stake are Florida's 25 electoral votes and who will occupy the White House for the next four years. The decision set off yet another flurry of legal activity, even as Florida officials began working out how they will carry out the court's instructions.
What did the Florida Supreme Court decide?
By a vote of 4-3, the Supreme Court ordered a lower appeals court to immediately begin a manual recount of about 9,000 Miami-Dade County ballots that were registered as "undervotes" – ballots on which a vote for president was not recorded during machine recount. The court ruled that 215 such votes for Mr. Gore in Palm Beach County and 168 such votes in Miami-Dade County, which had been counted but were not included in a vote certification by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, be added to the official results. The circuit court also was instructed to order a manual recount of all undervotes in any Florida county "where such a recount has not yet occurred."
Who will do the recount?
The Supreme Court's order gave the Leon County Circuit judge wide powers to implement the statewide recount of undervotes. The Gore legal team filed a motion late Friday asking that the count begin immediately. They proposed that, in counties that have not conducted manual recounts of undervotes, the court order local election officials to separate undervotes and move them to Leon County, where a manual recount would be conducted. Many of the specific details on the recount were being worked out Friday evening. The circuit court's clerk reportedly has arranged to have 32 two-person counting teams on standby that would work in the Leon County Library. Local law enforcement would provide security. Republican and Democratic observers would monitor the process.
What standard will be applied to determine whom voters selected for president?
The opinion states that the court has repeatedly held "that so long as the voter's intent may be discerned from the ballot, the vote constitutes a 'legal vote' that should be counted."
What's the next step?
Attorneys for Republican presidential hopeful Mr. Bush already have asked a federal court to intervene and stop the count before it starts. James Baker said Thursday that the ruling would be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
How many votes could be affected by the Florida Supreme Court decision?
One estimate is that as many as 45,000 ballots could be recounted in 64 Florida counties. The court's decision does not apply to Palm Beach, Broward and Volusia counties, where hand recounts have been completed.
Who's ahead for now?
With the 383 votes from Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, Mr. Bush's lead drops from 537 votes to 154 votes.
Who is likely to benefit from a recount?
The conventional wisdom is that Mr. Gore is more likely to benefit from a recount in the large urban counties. Mr. Bush is more likely to pick up more votes in rural areas and the Florida Panhandle. Democrats, who brought the issue before the Florida Supreme Court, believe that Mr. Gore will prevail. The Florida Supreme Court's decision notes that the candidates are separated by no more than about 500 votes and may be separated by as little as about 100 votes. "Thousands of uncounted votes could obviously make a difference," the justices wrote.
What would happen then?
If the Florida Supreme Court's decision withstands an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and if Mr. Gore receives more votes, he could win Florida's 25 electoral votes, and thereby, the presidential election.
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