## Facts

- Palm Beach County voters contested the November 7, 2000 general election results for President and Vice President in Palm Beach County, Florida.
- The county used a “butterfly ballot,” with candidate names on facing pages and punch holes in a center column.
- The voters alleged the ballot design was confusing and misleading, causing misvotes (including votes cast for an unintended candidate) and invalid double-punched ballots, thereby diluting or misdirecting intended votes.
- The voters brought claims under Florida’s election contest statute, § 102.168, Fla. Stat., seeking relief including setting aside the county’s presidential results.
- Requested remedies included a countywide revote for President or a statistical reallocation of votes to reflect alleged voter intent.
- The circuit court denied relief; the district court certified the matter for immediate resolution; the Florida Supreme Court accepted jurisdiction and consolidated related challenges.

## Issues

1. Whether § 102.168, Fla. Stat., authorizes an election contest seeking to set aside or redo presidential election results in a single county.
2. Whether Palm Beach County’s butterfly ballot was unlawful under Florida election law or constitutional protections such that the county’s presidential results should be invalidated.
3. Whether a court may order a countywide revote for President after election day given federal and state requirements for a uniform election day for presidential electors.
4. Whether a court may grant a statistical reallocation of votes to approximate voter intent in lieu of ballot-by-ballot determinations.

## Decision

- The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s denial of relief.
- The Court declined to invalidate Palm Beach County’s presidential election results.
- The Court refused to order a post-election countywide revote for President.
- The Court rejected statistical reallocation of votes as an available remedy.

## Legal Principles

- Courts may grant relief in election contests only within authority conferred by the governing statutory scheme; extraordinary remedies require clear legal authorization.
- Alleged voter confusion, without a showing that the ballot was legally defective under applicable requirements, is insufficient to set aside certified election results.
- A post-election revote for presidential electors conflicts with the structure requiring a uniform election day and exceeds the remedial authority contemplated for election contests in this context.
- Statistical reconstruction or redistribution of votes to approximate voter intent is speculative and not a judicially authorized substitute for voter-specific determinations recognized in traditional contest procedures.

## Conclusion

The Florida Supreme Court upheld the denial of an election contest challenging Palm Beach County’s butterfly ballot, holding that the requested remedies—invalidating the county’s presidential results, ordering a revote, or reallocating votes statistically—were not legally justified or authorized under the applicable election-contest framework and election-day constraints.


Fladell v. Palm Beach Cnty. Canvassing Bd., 772 So. 2d 1240 (Fla. 2000)