Bush v. Gore was the 2000 U.S. Supreme Court case that effectively decided the presidential election. The Court’s December 12, 2000, ruling stopped Florida’s disputed recount, leaving George W. Bush with the state’s electoral votes and the presidency.
The election hinged on Florida, where the initial margin was extremely narrow. Bush ultimately led by 537 votes out of nearly six million cast. Al Gore’s campaign sought manual recounts in several counties, but the Supreme Court ruled in a 5–4 decision that inconsistent recount standards violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The decision did not formally declare Bush president. Instead, by ending the recount before Florida’s deadline for certifying electors, it preserved the state’s certified result. Bush received 271 electoral votes—one more than the 270 needed—while Gore received 266.
The case remains controversial because Gore won the national popular vote by more than 500,000 votes. Later ballot studies also reached different conclusions depending on which ballots and recount standards were used, helping explain why the election is still discussed as both a legal and political turning point.