Bush v. Gore: Facts & Related Content

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In Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed a Florida Supreme Court request for a selective manual recount of that state's U.S. presidential election ballots. The 5–4 decision in the case, which was decided on December 12, 2000, effectively awarded Florida's 25 votes in the electoral college—and thus the election itself—to Republican candidate George W. Bush. Democratic candidate Al Gore officially conceded the following day.

Facts

Date	December 12, 2000
Location	United States
Date Argued	December 11, 2000
Date Of Decision	December 12, 2000
Jurisdiction	Supreme Court of the United States
Docket No.	00-949
Context	United States presidential election of 2000
First Party	George W. Bush, et al.
Second Party	Al Gore, et al.
Justices	William Rehnquist (chief justice) • Stephen Breyer • Ruth Bader Ginsburg • Anthony Kennedy • Sandra Day O'Connor • Antonin Scalia • David Hackett Souter • John Paul Stevens • Clarence Thomas
Opinion	per curiam
Concurrence	William Rehnquist (chief justice), joined by Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas
Dissent	John Paul Stevens, joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer • David Hackett Souter, joined by Stephen Breyer, John Paul Stevens, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Stevens and Ginsburg joined this opinion with regard to all but Part C) • Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by John Paul Stevens, David Hackett Souter, and Stephen Breyer (Souter and Breyer joined this opinion only with regard to Part I) • Stephen Breyer, joined by John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and David Hackett Souter (Stevens and Ginsburg joined this opinion except with regard to Part I-A-1, and Souter joined only with regard to Part I)

Top Questions

What was the outcome of Bush v. Gore?

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decision by the Florida Supreme Court, which had earlier ruled that manual recounts should continue in all counties where a statistically significant number of undervotes were observed for the office of president of the United States. In a 7–2 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the various methods and standards of the recount process violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court ruled 5–4 on the remedy of the matter, with the majority holding that the Florida Supreme Court’s decision had created new election law—a right reserved for the state legislature—and that no recount could be held in time to satisfy a federal deadline for the selection of state electors. The 5–4 decision effectively awarded Florida’s 25 votes in the electoral college—and thus the election itself—to Republican candidate George W. Bush. The decision of the majority was heavily criticized by the minority, however; dissenting justices wrote that the recount process, while flawed, should be allowed to proceed, on the grounds that constitutional protection of each vote should not be subject to a timeline.

When was Bush v. Gore decided?

Bush v. Gore was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on December 12, 2000.

Who dissented in Bush v. Gore?

Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Hackett Souter, and John Paul Stevens wrote dissenting opinions in Bush v. Gore. Dissenting justices wrote that the recount process, while flawed, should be allowed to proceed, on the grounds that constitutional protection of each vote should not be subject to a timeline. Particularly notable was Ginsburg’s dissent, which she ended with “I dissent” rather than the traditional “I respectfully dissent.”