What's the longest we've waited for a US election result?
George W Bush and Al Gore’s battle for the White House took 36 days
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump may have already, albeit falsely, declared victory in the 2020 presidential election but as ballot-counting continues, the wait for the final result becomes ever-more agonising - even though Joe Biden is edging closer to the 270 electoral college votes he needs.
Although drawn-out presidential elections in the US are not unheard of, this year’s race is unlike most in recent history.
In four of the last five elections, the result had been clear and was announced either on election night or the following day.
However, the 2000 fight for the White House between George W Bush and Al Gore was drawn out for 36 days, making it the longest in modern American history.
The delay began when Florida, with its 29 electoral college votes, had the deciding vote as results from the other 49 states left the two candidates neck and neck.
Commentators initially called the state in Mr Gore’s favour, but later returned its status to “too close to call” before declaring victory for Mr Bush.
What followed were multiple recounts and a legal fight that ended up in the Supreme Court, which ultimately saw Mr Bush take the presidency.
He won by just 537 ballots in Florida on a turnout of 6.1 million.
The ambiguity of the result was blamed on the hanging chads – a voting card that had not been neatly punched through, resulting in it not being counted by the tabulating machines.
Polling cards that had a clear indentation but no hole were dubbed “pregnant chads”, while “swinging chads” were still attached at two corners, also leading to the votes being discarded.
Mr Gore sought a recount of a small sample of Florida’s disputed ballots and it was estimated 2.9 per cent of votes cast never made it into the certified totals.
The Democrat’s lawyers launched a bid for a recount of all 1.8 million ballots cast in four predominantly Democratic counties, before calling for further recounts elsewhere.
The Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide recount of “undervotes” – a ballot that does not clearly indicate the voter’s preference – on 8 December.
It was seemingly a huge victory for Mr Gore, but it was stopped the next day by the US Supreme Court and the legal action returned to state courts.
On 13 December, the closest presidential contest in decades finally ended 36 days after election day following a 5-4 vote by the US Supreme Court that allowed Mr Bush’s victory to stand.
Mr Gore accepted the verdict, and with that Mr Bush was on his way to the White House.
Additional reporting by Press Association
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments