Florida Supreme Court Bars Announcement of Final Election ResultsThe Florida Supreme Court of the United States on Friday prevented Secretary of State Katherine Harris from announcing the final elections results of the state on Saturday.The court ruled that Harris may not certify the final election results "until further order of this court." In their unanimous order, the justices said that they wanted to "maintain the status quo" in the state that will decide the winner of the US presidential election. The court, whose seven judges are all Democratic appointees, set a hearing at 2 p.m. on Monday. The court also ruled that the hand recounts of votes in key Florida counties including Palm Beach could go on. In response to the Supreme Court's ruling, Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore said here that neither he, his Republican rival George W. Bush nor Harris "will be the arbiter of this election." "This election is a matter that must be decided by the will of the people as expressed under the rule of law, law which has meaning as determined in Florida, now by the Florida Supreme Court," he said. The Supreme Court's ruling came in response to a rapid Democratic appeal against the ruling of Leon County Circuit Court earlier on Friday that turned down Gore camp's request to include hand recounts results in the final state tally. Harris, who is pleased with the ruling of circuit court, announced plans to certify a winner on Saturday after the overseas votes are counted. Early returns from overseas ballots gave Bush 141 votes and Gore 108. Associated Press said Bush holds a 333-vote lead in the state, but the totals do not include the returns from the ongoing hand recounts in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Gore and Bush are fighting for the 25 electoral votes of Florida which could decide the outcome of the US presidential election. Apart from Florida, Bush carried 29 states for 246 electoral votes while Gore won 19 states plus the District of Columbia for 262 electoral votes. A total of 270 votes are needed for presidency. |
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