Nov. 21, 2000: The Florida Supreme Court rules to extend the deadline for a manual count of votes in the presidential election

Friday 21 November 2008

On Nov. 21, 2000, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of extending by 12 days the deadline for certain Florida counties to submit their manual count of votes in the presidential election. The state was in such a position that its electoral votes would give either candidate victory in the national election. Former Vice President Al Gore trailed incumbent President George W. Bush by such a small number of votes that the state already had recounted the votes. When the recounted number showed an even smaller gap between Gore and Bush, Gore asked for a manual count of votes in four heavily Democratic counties. When three of those counties indicated they would not finish the manual count by the Nov. 14 deadline, Gore asked the Florida Supreme Court for help. The Court ruled that the votes should be counted and extended the deadline to Nov. 26. After several appeals from both sides, Gore eventually conceded defeat.