The Democratic Challenge Succeeds, But They Don't Take Florida
The Democrats, after serious court battles over Florida, succeed in grabbing the state away from Bush. However, that doesn't mean the Democrats have successfully used the courtrooms to win what they couldn't win at the polls -- in fact, the state has not gone to Gore at all.
Instead, thanks to the Democratic challenge, the vote from the state of Florida does not get certified. In other words, state judges or the secretary of state refuse to formally approve of the Florida election. Normally, certification is an uncontroversial, ceremonial procedure -- this time it is serious.
A lack of certification means Florida cannot conclusively assign its 25 electoral votes by December 12, which is the final deadline for settling such disputes. To the amazement of the American population -- and to the enormous frustration of the people of Florida -- the votes of Floridians just don't count.
If neither candidate receives Florida's 25 Electoral College votes, that means neither candidate can reach the magic mark of 270 Electoral College votes required to be president. And that means that the House of Representatives has to pick the next U.S. president.
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