United States Supreme Court

“ On December 8, 2000, the Florida Supreme Court ordered, inter alia, that manual recounts of ballots for the recent Presidential election were required in all Florida counties where so-called "undervotes" had not been subject to manual tabulation, and that the manual recounts should begin at once. Noting the closeness of the election, the court explained that, on the record before it, there could be no question that there were uncounted "legal votes"–i.e., those in which there was a clear indication of the voter's intent–sufficient to place the results of the election in doubt. ”

“ The recount mechanisms implemented in response to the state court's decision do not satisfy the minimum requirement for nonarbitrary treatment of voters. The record always shows that the standards for accepting or rejecting contested ballots might vary not only from county to county but indeed within a single county from one recount team to another. ”

“ Briefs of amici curiae were filed for the National Bar Association by David Earl Honig; for Robert Harris et al. by Bruce J. Terris, Carolyn Smith Pravlik, Kathleen L. Millian, Sarah A. Adams, and Roger J. Bernstein; and for Michael F. Wasserman, pro se. ”