Bush and Gore in historic Supreme Court showdown

8:00 AM

WASHINGTON - The United States Supreme Court intervened for the first time ever in a presidential election today, aggressively quizzing lawyers in a case that could sink Democrat Al Gore's White House hopes or throw him a legal lifeline to fight on a while longer.

As the session convened 24 days after the disputed election, there was almost as much at the stake for the nine justices and the prestige of the court itself as for the two presidential contestants - Gore, the vice president, and Republican George W Bush, the governor of Texas.

In the ornate marbled courtroom, the nine black-robed members of the Supreme Court vigorously questioned attorneys for both sides. Seven of the justices were appointed by Republicans and two by Democrats, but the court has often been closely divided with a narrow conservative majority.

Bush's lawyer, Theodore Olson, argued that the Florida Supreme Court exceeded its authority when it ruled unanimously two weeks ago to extend a deadline for presidential votes to be counted by hand in Florida - the state that will decide who won the November 7 election.

As a result of that ruling, Bush's margin in Florida fell from 930 to 537 votes. If the Supreme Court found for Bush, the previous result would be reinstated, making Gore's task in trying to overtake his rival much tougher.

At stake are Florida's 25 Electoral College votes, which have given Bush one more than the 270 needed to be elected president. Gore is challenging that finding in Florida court cases to be heard in the coming days. If he got the 25 votes, then Gore would become president.

Gore's lawyer, Laurence Tribe, argued the Florida court ruling ensured that all the votes would count. But two justices expressed concerns.

"I don't see anything in the text of the statute that requires a manual recount," Justice Antonin Scalia said.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said the ruling pushed back the deadline for certifying the Florida vote.

"Certainly the date changed. That is a dramatic change," she said.

Other justices questioned why the federal court should become involved in what is usually a state matter.

There were nearly 400 people in the courtroom, including Gore's four children, his top campaign aide, William Daley, and a slew of Republican and Democratic members of Congress.

The justices did not say how they would rule. After the 90-minute hearing, the court took the case under advisement, with a ruling expected in the next few days.

Tribe told reporters after the hearing that he was encouraged but cautious. "You can't always guess anything about where the justices will come out from what exactly they ask," he said.

A ruling for Gore would throw the vice president a legal and political lifeline in his monumental battle to overturn last Sunday's Florida's certification of a Bush victory in the state.

But Gore has a tough road ahead in any case since he faces a December 12 deadline to overturn Bush's certified win before the state's representatives to the Electoral College must be chosen. Florida's electors will tip the balance when the Electoral College meets on December 18 to select the 43rd president of the United States.

The inconclusive US election has provoked a political and legal maelstrom in which Friday's US Supreme Court hearing was the most dramatic, but possibly not the most decisive.

In the legal blizzard, one potentially pivotal case will be heard by Florida's Leon County Circuit Court on Monday. The lawsuit seeks to throw out up to 15,000 Seminole County absentee ballots on the grounds that Republican Party workers illegally altered absentee ballot applications, most of which were presumed to have been cast for Bush.

Gore's lawyers fought for a quick recount of contested votes in Florida on Thursday, but Republican state lawmakers acted to outflank them, voting to call a special legislative session to help propel Bush into the White House.

Tribe in written submissions to the Supreme Court complained that Bush "seeks not just to run out the clock but, extraordinarily, to have this court turn back the clock in pending Florida contest proceedings so that he can declare the game over."

Olson warned that chaos would result if state courts could change the law after an election was held. He blamed the Florida Supreme Court for creating "turmoil" and "postelection chaos."

Bush's lawyers are relying on a 113-year-old federal law known as the Electoral Count Act that says "any controversy or contest" concerning presidential electors must be decided on the basis of "laws enacted prior to the day" of the election.

They also have cited the Constitution, which says that a state may appoint its electors "in such a manner as the legislature may direct." They charged that the Florida Supreme Court unconstitutionally usurped the powers of the Legislature.

Gore's last hope lies in the votes he says have never been counted properly in Florida.

At dawn on Friday, meanwhile, a truck left Miami loaded with 654,000 ballots and bound for the state capital, Tallahassee. A judge on Saturday may decide if they need to be recounted.

The judge handling the Gore lawsuit in Florida, Leon County Circuit Judge N Sanders Sauls, granted a request from Bush's lawyers for all 1.16 million ballots cast in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties to be shipped to Tallahassee, not just the nearly 14,000 disputed ballots requested by the Democrats.

Meanwhile, Democrat Maria Cantwell has beaten the Republican incumbent in Washington state's Senate race, splitting the United States Senate 50-50 between the two parties for the first time in at least a century.

However, Republicans will maintain control of the chamber.

After a statewide recount was completed on Friday, Cantwell won 48.73 per cent of the vote to Republican Slade Gorton's 48.63 per cent, winning the last contested Senate seat by 2259 votes, according to figures on Washington's official election web site.

Libertarian Jeff Jared won 2.63 percent of the ballots.

Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro is expected to certify the recount results on December 7.

- REUTERS

Herald Online feature: America votes

The US Electoral College

Florida Dept. of State Division of Elections

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