America waits as Supreme Court considers

The US Supreme Court ruling on the Florida recounts could decide who is the next president, five weeks after the election.

The US Supreme Court ruling on the Florida recounts could decide who is the next president, five weeks after the election.

The nine judges of the highest court in the land heard 90 minutes of oral argument yesterday from the lawyers representing Vice-President Al Gore and Governor George Bush.

In a packed courtroom which included three of Mr Gore's children, the judges closely questioned the lawyers for both sides. Outside, colourful rival groups demonstrated noisily. Many people had queued overnight to secure one of the 50 seats allotted to the public.

If the court rules against further hand recounts of disputed ballots in Florida, Mr Bush is almost certain to become the next president because he holds a narrow lead in the votes counted so far and has been certified the winner from earlier counts.

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If the court allows the recounts, which it halted last Saturday, to recommence, Mr Gore could well overtake Mr Bush's slender lead of less than 200 votes and be eventually certified the winner in Florida.

Whoever wins in Florida would also win the state's 25 Electoral College votes which would ensure victory in the Presidential election.

The college of 538 electors from the 50 states casts its votes on December 18th. But if Mr Gore wins on recounts, there could be two lists of Florida electors pledged to each candidate and it would be up to the US Congress to resolve this huge Constitutional problem when it meets on January 6th.

Before the court's hearing in Washington yesterday, most observers predicted that it would rule in favour of Mr Bush. This was because the justices had decided last Saturday, by five votes to four, to halt the recounting which the Florida Supreme Court had ordered in a surprise decision last Friday.

Judge Anthony Scalia for the five wrote then that "a majority of the court, while not deciding the issues presented, believe that the petitioner [Mr Bush] has a substantial probability of success." The fate of the two candidates depends on whether this majority holds after hearing yesterday's legal arguments.

During yesterday's hearing, the judges queried Mr Bush's lawyers why the recount issue could not be handled by the Florida courts and why it should be heard by their court. But the judges also showed concern about differing standards which were being used for the recounts in different counties.

The Bush campaign seemed quietly confident that the court would rule in its favour but after so many ups and downs since the election, no one could be sure of anything.

Mr Bush on his way into his office in Austin refused to make any prediction to reporters. "I'm keeping my emotions in check," he said cautiously.

He refused to say what he would do if the court orders the recounts to resume. "I'll make a statement once we determine what the outcome of the Supreme Court decision is and we'll see what happens," he said.

Asked how Mr Gore was feeling ahead of the court hearing, a spokesman, Mr Doug Hattaway, said: "He's optimistic. I think he believes that we have the law on our side and that the legal team has done the best job and at the end of the day the Supreme Court of the United States gives a lot of deference to the state courts."

According to a CNN/USA Today poll, 72 per cent of those questioned thought that the Supreme Court would be "fair" in deciding this case. Some 75 per cent believed the court would rule in favour of Mr Bush and 53 per cent said that Mr Gore should concede the election.

Meanwhile in Florida, the state legislature continued to hold hearings on a Bill which would approve the list of the state's representatives to the Electoral College already certified as pledged to Mr Bush.