(Bench Opinion) Cite as: 531 U. S. ____ (2000) 1Per CuriamNOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in thepreliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested tonotify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in orderthat corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES_________________No. 00–949_________________GEORGE W. BUSH, ET AL., PETITIONERS v.ALBERT GORE, JR., ET AL.ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT[December 12, 2000]PER CURIAM.IOn December 8, 2000, the Supreme Court of Floridaordered that the Circuit Court of Leon County tabulate byhand 9,000 ballots in Miami-Dade County. It also orderedthe inclusion in the certified vote totals of 215 votes identi-fied in Palm Beach County and 168 votes identified inMiami-Dade County for Vice President Albert Gore, Jr.,and Senator Joseph Lieberman, Democratic Candidatesfor President and Vice President. The Supreme Courtnoted that petitioner, Governor George W. Bush assertedthat the net gain for Vice President Gore in Palm BeachCounty was 176 votes, and directed the Circuit Court toresolve that dispute on remand. ___ So. 2d, at ___ (slipop., at 4, n. 6). The court further held that relief wouldrequire manual recounts in all Florida counties where so-called “undervotes” had not been subject to manual tabu-lation. The court ordered all manual recounts to begin atonce. Governor Bush and Richard Cheney, RepublicanCandidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency, filedan emergency application for a stay of this mandate. OnDecember 9, we granted the application, treated the appli-2 BUSH v. GOREPer Curiamcation as a petition for a writ of certiorari, and grantedcertiorari. Post, p. ___.The proceedings leading to the present controversy arediscussed in some detail in our opinion in Bush v. PalmBeach County Canvassing Bd., ante, p. ____ (per curiam)(Bush I). On November 8, 2000, the day following thePresidential election, the Florida Division of Electionsreported that petitioner, Governor Bush, had received2,909,135 votes, and respondent, Vice President Gore, hadreceived 2,907,351 votes, a margin of 1,784 for GovernorBush. Because Governor Bush’s margin of victory wasless than “one-half of a percent . . . of the votes cast,” anautomatic machine recount was conducted under§102.141(4) of the election code, the results of whichshowed Governor Bush still winning the race but by adiminished margin. Vice President Gore then soughtmanual recounts in Volusia, Palm Beach, Broward, andMiami-Dade Counties, pursuant to Florida’s electionprotest provisions. Fla. Stat. §102.166 (2000). A disputearose concerning the deadline for local county canvassingboards to submit their returns to the Secretary of State(Secretary). The Secretary declined to waive the Novem-ber 14 deadline imposed by statute. §§102.111, 102.112.The Florida Supreme Court, however, set the deadline atNovember 26. We granted certiorari and vacated theFlorida Supreme Court’s decision, finding considerableuncertainty as to the grounds on which it was based.Bush I, ante, at ___–___ (slip. op., at 6–7). On December11, the Florida Supreme Court issued a decision on re-mand reinstating that date. ___ So. 2d ___, ___ (slip op. at30–31).On November 26, the Florida Elections CanvassingCommission certified the results of the election and de-clared Governor Bush the winner of Florida’s 25 electoralvotes. On November 27, Vice President Gore, pursuant toFlorida’s contest provisions, filed a complaint in LeonCite as: 531 U. S. ____ (2000) 3Per CuriamCounty Circuit Court contesting the certification. Fla.Stat. §102.168 (2000). He sought relief pursuant to§102.168(3)(c), which provides that “[r]eceipt of a numberof illegal votes or rejection of a number of legal votessufficient to change or place in doubt the result of theelection” shall be grounds for a contest. The Circuit Courtdenied relief, stating that Vice President Gore failed tomeet his burden of proof. He appealed to the First DistrictCourt of Appeal, which certified the matter to the FloridaSupreme Court.Accepting jurisdiction, the Florida Supreme Court af-firmed in part and reversed in part. Gore v. Harris, ___So. 2d. ____ (2000). The court held that the Circuit Courthad been correct to reject Vice President Gore’s challengeto the results certified in Nassau County and his challengeto the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board’s determina-tion that 3,300 ballots cast in that county were not, in thestatutory phrase, “legal votes.” The Supreme Court held that Vice President Gore hadsatisfied his burden of proof under §102.168(3)(c) withrespect to his challenge to Miami-Dade County’s failure totabulate, by manual count, 9,000 ballots on which themachines had failed to detect a vote for President (“under-votes”). ___ So. 2d., at ___ (slip. op., at 22–23). Notingthe closeness of the election, the Court explained that “[o]nthis record, there can be no question that there are legalvotes within the 9,000 uncounted votes sufficient to placethe results of this election in doubt.” Id., at ___ (slip. op.,at 35). A “legal vote,” as determined by the SupremeCourt, is “one in which there is a ‘clear indication of theintent of the voter. ’ ” Id., at ____ (slip op., at 25). Thecourt therefore ordered a hand recount of the 9,000 ballotsin Miami-Dade County. Observing that the contest provi-sions vest broad discretion in the circuit judge to “provideany relief appropriate under such circumstances,” Fla.Stat. §102.168(8) (2000), the Supreme Court further held4 BUSH v. GOREPer Curiamthat the Circuit Court could order “the Supervisor of Elec-tions and the Canvassing Boards, as well as the necessarypublic officials, in all counties that have not conducted amanual recount or tabulation of the undervotes . . . to doso forthwith, said tabulation to take place in the individ-ual counties where the ballots are located.” ____ So. 2d, at____ (slip. op., at 38).The Supreme Court also determined that both PalmBeach County and Miami-Dade County, in their earliermanual recounts, had identified a net gain of 215 and 168legal votes for Vice President Gore. Id., at ___ (slip. op., at33–34). Rejecting the Circuit Court’s conclusion that PalmBeach County lacked the
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