Supreme Court votes 5-4 to stay the Florida Supreme Court's statewide manual recount order, halting all vote counting 3 days before the federal safe harbor deadline

The U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency stay of the Florida Supreme Court's December 8 order requiring a statewide manual recount of approximately 45,000 undervotes. The 5-4 stay — with Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, and O'Connor in the majority — halted counting in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward counties mid-process. Justice Scalia's concurrence stated that counting votes of "questionable legality" would "cast a cloud" over a Bush victory, which critics argued prejudged the merits before briefing was complete.