Landmark Supreme Court Case At the end of the 2000 presidential election, Americans had what seemed to be a simple question. Who won? The answer, it turned out, would be settled by the U. S. Supreme Court.
Background of the Case
The 2000 presidential election between Democratic candidate Vice President Al Gore and Republican Governor George W. Bush of Texas was a tight race. It became clear that whoever won Florida would have the 270 electoral votes needed to win. People in Florida voted by punching a hole in a ballot card. The votes were counted by a machine that detected these holes. According to the count Bush won Florida by a few hundred votes. However, about 60,000 ballots were not counted because the machines could not detect a hole in the ballot. Gore argued in the Florida Supreme Court that these ballots should be recounted by hand. The Florida Supreme Court ordered the counties to recount the votes. Lawyers for Bush appealed the case to the U. S. Supreme Court. They argued that it would be impossible to tell a voter ’s intent on a mismarked ballot.

The Court’s Decision
On December 12, the Supreme Court ruled for Bush in a 5-4 decision. It said that the votes could not be counted consistently across Florida in different counties that used different methods, because not every ballot would be treated equally. The Supreme Court ordered the recount to stop. The original result would stand. As a result, Bush won Florida by 537 votes. Winning Florida gave him enough electoral votes to win in the Electoral College. Bush received 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266. George W. Bush became the 43rd president of the United States.

Why Is This Case Important?
In effect, the Supreme Court picked which candidate was the next president. The ruling raised issues about the fairness of American elections and the powers of the Supreme Court. Many thought that the Court had overstepped its authority by making a political decision beyond its jurisdiction.

Directions: Type your answers to the following questions in the text box below. Cite information from the Landmark Supreme Court Case to support your answers.

1. What is the background of the case?
2. Why was there an issue with the votes in Florida?
3. What was the Supreme Court’s decision?
4. How did this decision effect the election?
5. Why is this case important?