Closest Presidential Election: A lot of people in the United States vote for president every four years. Electoral college, on the other hand, means that not every vote counts the same. A candidate can get a lot of votes but still lose the election.
In 2000, the race for president between Republican George W. Bush and Democratic Al Gore was one of the closest in U.S. history. After Election Day, the results were not clear for weeks. In the end, a landmark Supreme Court decision gave one candidate a very narrow victory in Florida.
Early Voting in New York for 2024 Presidential Election Starts, Check out the Date!
Florida’s 25 electoral votes made the difference in the election. There were almost 6 million votes cast, and Bush was only ahead by 1,700. It was too close to call. Because the margin was so small, Florida law required an automatic machine recount. This cut Bush’s led to just 327 votes.
The Supreme Court decision that ended the 2000 election
After the Supreme Court ruling that settled the 2000 election, Al Gore’s campaign initiated several legal challenges, requesting manual recounts in four Florida counties. On November 26, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris officially declared Bush the winner by a mere 537 votes. However, on December 8, following Gore’s lawsuit, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide recount of the undervotes.
On December 9, the Supreme Court intervened and halted the recount after Bush appealed the Florida Supreme Court’s decision. Three days later, in Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the lack of consistent guidelines for the recount violated the Equal Protection Clause. The Court concluded that Gore’s request for a recount suggested that Bush was not receiving equal treatment under the law, effectively finalizing Bush’s victory in the election.
No constitutional recount could be finished by the December 12 “safe harbor” deadline, the majority of judges decided in a 5-4 vote. This essentially put an end to the recount and gave Bush the electoral votes in Florida and the presidency.
2024 US Elections Early Voting: Find Out Where You Can Vote Now!
The official results of the 2000 election were:
- Electoral College: Bush 271, Gore 266 (with one Gore elector abstaining)
- Popular Vote: Gore 50,999,897 (48.38%), Bush 50,456,002 (47.87%)
The ruling in Bush v. Gore by the Supreme Court is still being discussed by political analysts and legal experts. Furthermore, it paved the way for closer examination of voting practices and election management in succeeding elections—a point that is particularly relevant in the modern era.
