Could election history repeat itself in 2012?
Nov 5, 2012, 6:56 AM | Updated: 9:43 am
PHOENIX — The United States Supreme Court essentially decided the 2000 presidential election, when only a few hundred votes separated George W. Bush and Al Gore.
Pushing the clock forward 12 years, Arizona State University law professor Paul Bender sees a scenario that could land the race for the White House in the high court again.
“If Ohio is within a couple of thousand votes or less separating the candidates, there will be calls for recounts, there will be litigation and the Ohio courts will get involved.”
Bender said both campaigns are flooding Ohio with attorneys for a reason.
“To monitor the polls. If they have that many lawyers around on Election Day, it’s almost certain there will be a demand for a recount and then we’ll have the same thing that happened in Florida, about which ballots are counted and which are not.”
Bender has been in front of the Supreme Court several times and said it’s less likely that the high court will jump into this election than justices were in 2000, because of the heavy criticism they received 12 years ago.
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