Florida's shaping up to be too close to call - here's what happened in the 2000 recount
Florida, always a battleground state, is a neck-and-neck race between electing Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump president.
The two switched places at the top several times throughout the night, even tying:
What would happen if it was too close to call? Could there be a recount like there was in 2000?
That year, George W. Bush won 1,784 more votes than Al Gore in Florida - a 0.5% difference - triggering an automatic recount under state law. The law reads:
If the unofficial returns reflect that a candidate for any office was defeated or eliminated by one-half of a percent or less of the votes cast for such office ... a recount shall be ordered of the votes cast with respect to such office or measure. The Secretary of State is responsible for ordering recounts in federal, state, and multicounty races. The county canvassing board or the local board responsible for certifying the election is responsible for ordering recounts in all other races. A recount need not be ordered with respect to the returns for any office, however, if the candidate or candidates defeated or eliminated from contention for such office by one-half of a percent or less of the votes cast for such office request in writing that a recount not be made.
Bush won the machine recount by a slight margin, and Gore ordered recounts by hand, as he was allowed to do by law. That's when the infamous "hanging chad" ballots became an issue.
Some of the ballots, due to a design flaw, weren't perforated all the way through when voters cast their ballots, leaving some with chads (the hole marking candidates) that were unclear who the person voted for. There were 9,000 votes with hanging chads that the machines couldn't detect.
Gore then filed a complaint in Leon County Circuit Court contesting the recount, and the case made its way up to the US Supreme Court.