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Bush, Gore Teams File Briefs with US Supreme Court
Lawyers for US Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush on Tuesday, November 28, asked the US Supreme Court to bring "legal finality" to the presidential election by ending any further recounts.
In their written arguments filed with the court, Bush's lawyers asked the nine justices to overturn a Florida Supreme Court ruling that allowed hand recounting of votes to continue beyond a state deadline of November 14.
"The Florida Supreme Court's decision, which conflicts with both federal statutes and the federal Constitution, will thus continue to affect, and has the theoretical potential to change, the outcome of the presidential election in Florida, and thus the nation," the Bush lawyers argued.
Reversal by this court would "allow the completion of the proper selection of presidential electors in Florida according to the plan contemplated by the Constitution, and would aid in bringing legal finality to this election," they wrote.
Noting that Gore is seeking additional hand counting of thousands of disputed ballots in Florida, Bush's lawyers said that reversing the Florida court ruling would bring an end to the election dispute.
Earlier on Tuesday, the legal team of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore countered that the US Supreme Court should not interfere in Florida's presidential recount dispute.
Both sides filed final written briefs three days before the nation's highest court hears their oral arguments in Washington.
Gore's lawyers dismissed Bush camp's arguments as "insubstantial," saying that the Florida court had "played a familiar and quintessentially judicial role" in interpreting state law.
They asked the justices to affirm the ruling and avoid interfering in what is supposed to be a matter of state law.
"Principles of federalism counsel strongly against interference by this court," Gore's lawyers argued in their brief. "This is a state law case that, despite its undoubted importance, does not belong in federal court."
Bush's lawyers appealed to the US Supreme Court on November 22 after the Florida Supreme Court allowed hand recounts to continue in several counties in Florida, arguing that the ruling violated the constitution.
Florida's Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a Republican, certified that Bush won the state's election on Sunday by a 537-vote margin out of 6 million votes cast. Gore contested the election results in Florida.
Gore made a new call on Tuesday for a speedy hand recount of thousands of questionable ballots in Florida so that there would be "no legitimate question of who won this election."
His lawyers went to Leon Circuit Court in Florida on Tuesday and asked for a court-appointed master to oversee the manual recounting of thousands of votes cast in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
Gore: Supreme Court Not to Interfere in Recount Dispute
Lawyers for US Vice Presidential candidate Al Gore on November 28 filed a brief with the US Supreme Court, asking the court to avoid interfering in Florida 's presidential recount dispute.
"Principles of federalism counsel strongly against interference by this court," the lawyers said in the filing.
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