With the presidency turning on Florida's 25 electoral votes and a margin of a few hundred ballots, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide manual recount using varying standards. A 5–4 U.S. Supreme Court halted the recount, holding that inconsistent standards across counties violated the Equal Protection Clause and that no constitutionally adequate recount could be completed by the December 12 'safe harbor' deadline. The Court famously limited its holding to 'the present circumstances,' inviting decades of criticism that the ruling was result-driven. Bush v. Gore remains the only Supreme Court decision to effectively resolve a presidential election and a touchstone in debates about the Court's political legitimacy.