SCOTUS ruled that a partial recount was a violation of equal protection, giving some votes precedent over others.
But by the time they made this ruling, the "safe harbor" date was days away (maybe even the next day). If Florida didn't certify their results by the safe harbor date, it was open to a challenge during the counting of the electoral votes by Congress in January.
So, Florida certified the vote according to the last count. There was some legal jousting over military ballots, but I don't remember the details.
If Gore had asked for a state-wide recount from the beginning, he probably would have gotten it. The Misleadia paid to conduct their own recount afterwards, but this was without observers and lawyers from each side to challenge sketchy ballots, so the result wasn't relevant.
Ironically, the reason Florida was so close in the first place: election interference by the Misleadia. Intentionally or not, they called Florida immediately after the polls closed in the Eastern time zone. But, the most conservative part of Florida (Pensacola) is in the Central timezone. People were still in line to vote, but after hearing the news -- many of them went home without voting.
If memory serves correct, the Gore team, using Joe Lieberman as their hit man, submitted several lawsuits in contested counties to block the military absentee ballots from being counted.
Their grounds were weaker than Lieberman's glass jaw.
SCOTUS ruled that a partial recount was a violation of equal protection, giving some votes precedent over others.
But by the time they made this ruling, the "safe harbor" date was days away (maybe even the next day). If Florida didn't certify their results by the safe harbor date, it was open to a challenge during the counting of the electoral votes by Congress in January.
So, Florida certified the vote according to the last count. There was some legal jousting over military ballots, but I don't remember the details.
If Gore had asked for a state-wide recount from the beginning, he probably would have gotten it. The Misleadia paid to conduct their own recount afterwards, but this was without observers and lawyers from each side to challenge sketchy ballots, so the result wasn't relevant.
Ironically, the reason Florida was so close in the first place: election interference by the Misleadia. Intentionally or not, they called Florida immediately after the polls closed in the Eastern time zone. But, the most conservative part of Florida (Pensacola) is in the Central timezone. People were still in line to vote, but after hearing the news -- many of them went home without voting.
If memory serves correct, the Gore team, using Joe Lieberman as their hit man, submitted several lawsuits in contested counties to block the military absentee ballots from being counted.
Their grounds were weaker than Lieberman's glass jaw.
SORE LOSERMAN