US Florida Supreme Court to Hear Arguments in Gore AppealThe US Florida Supreme Court agreed Tuesday, December 5, to hear Democrat Al Gore's appeal of a ruling rejecting his contest of the state's election results.The justices wanted written papers submitted by Wednesday afternoon, and would hear oral arguments Thursday morning in the case that could ultimately settle the White House race, said court spokesman Craig Waters. Gore is appealing a ruling that rejected his request for a manual recount in two counties and to overturn Republican George W. Bush's certified victory in the state that stands to pick the next president. The justices have allotted an hour for oral arguments, 30 minutes for Gore's attorneys and 30 for Bush's, Waters said. Gore's appeal was one of the two election-related cases at Florida's highest court. The other, returned Monday from the US Supreme Court, requested clarification of the reasoning behind a ruling last month that approved partial manual recounts beyond a deadline fixed in state law for the end of vote counting in the presidential election. The Bush and Gore legal teams already were operating under a Tuesday deadline for submitting written arguments in that case. No timetable for oral arguments has yet been set in that case. The developments came the day after Florida's Leon County Circuit Court Judge N. Sanders Sauls rejected Gore's request to reverse Bush's certified 537-vote victory and also refused his request to order a partial manual recount. Earlier Monday, the US Supreme Court set aside the Florida Supreme Court's November 21 decision authorizing selected manual recounts in three counties and extending the deadline for certifying the presidential race. That decision sent the case back to the Florida court for clarification -- in effect deciding for now not to resolve any of the legal issues before the high court. The federal and state courts' orders left Gore in a perilous position. He is battling against the clock to force a hand recount of ballots that he believes can change the outcome of the Florida election before the December 12 deadline for selecting the state's presidential electors. Both Bush and Gore need Florida's 25 electoral votes to win the presidency. On November 26, state officials declared Bush the winner in Florida by 537 votes of 6 million cast in the November 7 election. Gore Optimistic Over Election ChancesUS Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore said Tuesday, December 5, that he remained optimistic about winning the presidency despite setbacks in his legal battle to overturn Republican George W. Bush's lead in Florida state."I don't feel anything other than optimistic," he told a press conference outside the White House as he was awaiting a ruling on his appeal by the Florida Supreme Court. The vice president stopped well short of saying he would concede the race for the White House if his appeal was rejected. |
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