Analysis: Votes stuck in legal minefield

Set to rule on Gore challenge: Florida's Judge Sanders Sauls

By Paul Reynolds in Washington

A US Supreme Court ruling has not settled the legal wrangling over the US presidency, as the contest is now back in the hands of Florida justices.

The US Supreme Court wants the Florida Supreme Court to explain the basis of its decision to grant another 12 days to recount the vote and it has vacated, or set aside, that decision in the meantime.

The US Supreme Court will presumably take up the case after a reply from the Florida justices.

So although this appears to be progress for the Bush campaign, it is also possible that the US court will not in the end intervene.

Gore campaign spokesmen are already saying that this is simply a time out, a pause for a video replay, as one put it. "Neither good nor bad news but no news," said another.

Legal nuances

What is worrying the US Supreme Court is whether the Florida court based its ruling simply on Florida law. If it did, then the US court might well not intervene.

However, if the Florida justices were relying on constitutional arguments about the importance of the popular vote, then the Washington court might see a violation of the rights of the Florida legislature, which is charged under the US constitution to set the rules for elections. This was certainly an issue which concerned conservative justices in oral hearings in Washington last Friday.