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Elections are no strangers to controversy. However, perhaps no election in recent history was as controversial as the 2000 United States Presidential election. Decided by a margin so small it defies belief, this election (and the controversy surrounding it) still stirs up debate and consternation to this day.

Let's get to the bottom of what happened in that election.

Let's revisit the recount controversy of the 2000 United States Presidential Election.

Election Night

On November 7, the night of the 2000 Presidential Election between Vice President Al Gore (D) and Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R), Florida was a closely-contested state: Final polls leading up to the election had Gore leading Bush between 2-4 percentage points, within the margin of error. 

County vote map of Florida from the 2000 Presidential Election

Soon after the polls closed in the Florida peninsula (which is in the Eastern time zone), the Associated Press called the state for Gore (based on result tallies and exit polling). However, as results continued to come in throughout the night (especially from the Florida panhandle counties in the Central time zone), the margin began to tighten. Several news networks proceeded to reverse their call, moving from "Gore" to "too close to call".

By the end of the evening, it became apparent that the winner of Florida would be the next President of the United States. At the end of the election-night vote count, Bush led in Florida by 1,784 votes. Under Florida state law, the small margin initiated an automatic statewide machine recount.

The Recount(s)

The recount was completed on November 10, after which Bush's lead was reduced to 327 votes. Following the recount, the Gore campaign requested a manual recount in four counties: Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Volusia.

The Florida Supreme Court building, where much of the drama played out

Under Florida state law, when a candidate requests a recount in a particular county, it is up to the county to decide whether to approve or deny the request. In response to the Gore campaign's request, Volusia began a recount on November 12. However, state law also required that all counties report and certify their returns by 5:00 PM on November 14. This was a problem, as manual recounts were very slow. Thus, there was a very real danger that the recount would not be complete by the deadline.

By November 14, Volusia had completed its recount, after which Bush held a 300-vote lead. Palm Beach had decided to perform a recount, but had not yet started, while Broward and Miami-Dade were still considering the Gore campaign's request. However, with the deadline past and the recounts in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties having not yet started, it was up to the courts to decide whether the recounts in those counties could be included in the final tally.

Over the next few days, the courts ultimately decided that the recounts could continue, but that the Florida Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, could refuse to allow subsequent recounts to be included in the final tally. However, this ruling was put on hold while the Florida Supreme Court considered an appeal by the Gore campaign. Meanwhile, recounts began in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

On November 21, in response to the Gore campaign's appeal, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that ongoing recounts in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties must be included in the final tally and gave the counties until November 26 to complete them. The next day, Miami-Dade County suspended its recount, saying it didn't have enough time to complete it before the deadline (the Gore campaign unsuccessfully sued Miami-Dade County to continue its recount).

By November 26, the recounts in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties were still incomplete. At that time, Harris proceeded to certify the statewide vote count as it stood then, which gave Bush the win in Florida by a margin of 537 votes.

On December 8, in a surprise ruling, the Florida Supreme Court ruled against the use of a manual recount in just the four counties that the Gore campaign had requested and instead ordered a statewide manual recount of all "undervotes" (ballots where no vote for President was recorded). This recount had the potential to alter the outcome of the election, as about 45,000 ballots were classified as "undervotes".

However, the next day, in response to an appeal by the Bush campaign, the US Supreme Court overruled state court's decision, ordering that the recount be halted and that the results certified on November 26 should stand as the final tally.

On December 13, in a nationally-televised address, Gore officially conceded the election to Bush.

My Take

In the years since the election, it has been debated as to whether Bush or Gore really "won" Florida. Some say that because Bush was the official leader at end of the election night count and at the end of each subsequent recount, he was the undisputed winner of the state of Florida. However, others point out that the manual recounts of Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties (which were very friendly to Gore) were never completed, and that Gore would have likely won if they were.

The infamous "Butterfly Ballot", which the Gore campaign claimed caused many voters to accidentally vote for Pat Buchanan

Additionally, it's become a common misconception that the US Supreme Court "overturned" the result of the election in Florida, giving it to Bush when it was "rightfully" won by Gore. However, as you can see from this timeline, that is not what happened at all. The Supreme Court simply ended the "undervote" recount, allowing the results certified on November 26 to stand as the final tally.

Personally, I approach this like a filmmaker. When you're a director trying to get the perfect shot, you may find it or you may not. However, what you can't do is spend too much time searching for it. Eventually, you've got to take what you have, perfect or not, and move on. Otherwise, the movie won't be finished.

In the election in Florida, we could have spent weeks or months performing recount after recount with the final tally changing each time. However, certification deadlines exist for a reason. At a certain point, you've got to declare a winner and move on. You can only reasonably count votes so many times.

In this instance, we had four different counts:

The election night count (Bush won +1,784)

The machine recount (Bush won +327)

The Volusia recount (Bush won +300)

The Broward recount (Bush won +537)

In most elections, there is only one count before a winner is declared. In 2000, Florida got four, with the same winner each time. I know the margin is close, but after four counts, it's time to move on. Besides, by all rights, the winner should have been declared on November 14, the original deadline. It was a courtesy to the Gore campaign that it was extended to November 26, at which point Bush still won.

Over the years, the vote count in Florida has been debated ad nauseum, but it's all purely academic. After all, Monday morning quarterbacks don't win games.