WASHINGTON (IslamOnline) - The U.S. Supreme Court Monday overturned Florida’s Supreme Court ruling extending a deadline for certifying the state's election results and a second recount in the disputed presidential election, sending the case back to the state court for more review.
The Court refused to rule on the merits of the case, meaning that they refused to rule upon the evidence and facts that were presented to them by attorneys for both Al Gore and George W. Bush.
In cases where rulings are based not on the merits of the case, decisions are made by reviewing the case given to them by the lower court and the Supreme Court ruling on whether the proper laws, rules and procedures were followed when the lower court made its ruling.
In this case the Court sent the case back to Florida saying only that the state court must give a ruling consistent with the U.S. Constitution and federal law.
"The judgment of the Supreme Court of Florida is therefore vacated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion," the justices ruled.
"After reviewing the opinion of the Florida Supreme Court, we find 'that there is considerable uncertainty as to the precise grounds for the decision'... This is sufficient reason for us to decline at this time to review the federal questions asserted to be present," the ruling said.
The decision is not a good one for Democrat Al Gore's efforts, but the practical impact of Monday's ruling was not immediately clear.
Although analysts are unclear as to what to make of the ruling, and whom it benefits, the Bush camp is claiming victory as that leaves Florida’s certified results in place, which declared Bush the winner.
Bush believed the Florida Supreme Court overstepped its bounds by extending a deadline for certifying the Florida election results and allowing the manual vote recounts sought by Gore.
Although a strong win for Bush, at this point, neither candidate is, as yet, assured of any finality in winning or losing the presidency.
The Florida courts are presently reviewing the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and will issue their own ruling shortly.
