US Supreme Court stops manual count, hopes rise for Bush

"It suffices to say that the issuance of the stay suggests that a majority of the Court, while not deciding the issues presented, believe that the petitioner (Bush) has a substantial probability of success," the Court said in its order.

Lawyers for the two sides were commanded to appear for oral arguments tomorrow – the day before the informal deadline for appointment of the state’s 25 electoral votes by the Florida Legislature.

Bush had wanted the count stopped on the ground that the Florida Supreme Court’s action was unconstitutional. Gore was desperate to have the counting continued because he is racing against the clock with a December 12 deadline.

The news pleased the Bush camp and dismayed Gore’s supporters.

Gore lead lawyer David Boies said the ruling was obviously one we disagree with."

James Baker, a top advisor to Bush, said: "I have just spoken to Governor Bush and of course we are pleased."

In written arguments to the US Supreme Court seeking a halt to the recounts, which they have long tarred as illegal, Bush lawyers charged that failure to stop the process in its tracks would "irreparably harm the entire electoral process."

Gore lawyers, in their written response, scoffed at the "surprising assertion … that a candidate for public office can irreparably be harmed by the process of discerning and tabulating the will of the voters."

Analysts said that agreeing to hear the Republican Texas governor Bush’s case did not mean the court would necessarily strike down the Florida Supreme Court’s Friday decision to order manual recounts of tens of thousands of ballots. But with time at a premium, the future of any hand recount was unclear, they added.

Before the US Supreme court’s order, the partial recount gave Gore a net gain of 58 votes statewide, putting him "clearly on a path to pull ahead" in the presidential race, Gore advisor Ron Klain said.

The Court issued its order a few moments after the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta had denied Bush’s emergency motion to stop the recount but also ordered Florida officials not to change previously certified results declaring him to be the winner by 537 votes.

Bush supporters outside the Leon County Library where counting was going on before it was stopped by the Florida Supreme Court shouted "Give it up Gore" when they learned the US Supreme Court decision.

In Orange County in Florida, the canvassing board ordered a halt to the counting but told the workers to sit tight.