On Tuesday, November 7, 2000, 100 million Americans went to the polls to elect a new president. By early the next morning it was clear Florida would determine the election. For without the state, neither candidate had the 270 Electoral College votes needed to claim the White House.
In recognition of the worldwide significance of the 2000 United States presidential election, Kluwer Law International commissioned three Florida law professors to gather together the key judicial rulings generated by this remarkable test of participatory democracy. Their efforts have resulted in an indispensable masterpiece.
The editors have carefully chosen the top 31 opinions, including the Palm Beach County "butterfly ballot" case, the Florida Supreme Court's "let the count continue" decision, and the United States Supreme Court's infamous December 9th stay order, which effectively ended Al Gore's quest to become president.
The most remarkable aspect of the book, however, is its Introduction. In clear and concise terms, the editors identify the principal legal issues at stake in Florida, the strategies employed by the candidates in addressing them, and the means by which the courts resolved them. This superb analysis is must reading for anyone who hopes to understand what really happened in the weeks following November 7th.
Bush v. Gore: The Fight for Florida's Vote is destined to become the first book that is turned to whenever the subject is Election 2000.