Description
Book SynopsisAn accessible, comprehensive guide to the legal battles that finally gave George W. Bush the Presidency five weeks after election night. Abner Greene provides a step by step, non-partisan explanation and analysis of the major legal issues involved in resolving the presidential contest.
Trade ReviewAbner Greene is not only an outstanding legal analyst but a gifted storyteller. He has given us an extraordinarily thoughtful, illuminating and (happily) highly readable account of the various legal battles fought in the five weeks after the 2000 Election. The author promises to break down the complexity of the legal issues so lawyers and nonlawyers alike can follow alongand he succeeds brilliantly. -- Yale Kamisar,Clarence Darrow Distinguished University Professor of Law, University of Michigan
The 2000 presidential election will be remembered as one of the most astonishing political, legal and constitutional events in American history. In Understanding the 2000 Election, Abner Greene traces each step in this extraordinary story with clarity and insight. With a careful eye for detail, and a generous perspective that highlights his sense of the good faith of each of the conflicting participants, Greene offers what will inevitably be a controversial understanding of these events that reveals the 2000 presidential election as a triumph of law and civility over brute politics and unprincipled power. -- Geoffrey R. Stone,Harry Kalven, Jr., Distinguished ServiceProfessor of Law, The University of Chicago
When future historians chronicle the battle of Bush v. Gore, they'll turn to Understanding the 2000 Election. Greene provides a clear, sophisticated, and accessible guide through the thicket of law and politics that surrounded the most surreal Presidential election of modern times. -- George Stephanopoulos
Superbly organized, with clarity and concision, Greene's book offers a highly readable, nonpartisan guidebook for those who don't speak legalese. * The National Journal *
Table of ContentsIntroduction Background1 Winning the Presidency: The Electoral Vote Part I. Counting by Hand2 Manual Recounts: In Florida, and Across the Nation 3 Protesting the Election: What Sort of Deadline WasNovember 14? 434 Contesting the Election: What Does the Law Mean by "Rejection of Legal Votes"? 5 Challenging Hand Counts in Federal CourtPart II. The Bush Attack on the Florida Supreme Court6 The "Safe-Harbor" Provision and Article II of the Constitution7 Article II of the U.S. Constitution8 The U.S. Supreme Court Asks for Clari?cationPart III. The End of the Road9 The U.S. Supreme Court Ends the ElectionPart IV. The Wild-Card Lawsuits10 The "Butter?y Ballot"11 Absentee BallotsPart V. The Legislative Role12 The Florida Legislature13 The U.S. CongressAfterword Notes Acknowledgments Index About the Author
