The administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) has yet to “determine” Joe Biden Democrat as the winner of the general election, days after the US media projected the Democrat as the next president of the United States. The GSA’s reluctance to certify Biden as the winner has slowed down the presidential transition, and the federal agency has not provided an adequate reason behind its decision.
A GSA spokesperson cited the precedent set after the 2000 election, when the legal dispute over the count in Florida delayed the transition. The spokesperson said in a statement that the administrator will continue to “meet and comply with all the requirements established by law and adhere to the precedent set by the Clinton Administration in 2000.”
Read also | What is GSA ‘verification’ and how does it affect the Biden-Harris transition team?
What happened to the Florida count?
Republican George W. Bush clashed with Democratic Vice President Al Gore when controversy erupted over the Florida election results. The future of the two leaders rested in Florida, a decisive state that had 25 electoral votes. The United States witnessed a dramatic back and forth when American media networks initially called for the results in favor of Al Gore, but later retracted, saying he was too close to call him.
The networks began to call the results in favor of Bush, however, the difference in votes remained too small. At one point, Gore even phoned Bush to grant and then called him to retract the grant. An automatic recount was called under state law, which further reduced the vote margin from 1,784 to 327. Republican supporters in Miami protested the recount process, sparking widespread debate. The controversy finally ended when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Bush’s favor.
Read also | Republican leaders who broke ranks with Trump to congratulate Biden
How was it different from the current situation?
Comparing the ongoing controversy to Florida’s count could be misleading as it occurred for only one state, while President Donald Trump has questioned the results for several undecided states. After the 2000 presidential election, the two candidates were separated by a few hundred votes in Florida. In the last general elections, the difference in votes remains in the thousands.
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