US Supreme Court to Hear Arguments!

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear an appeal by Republican George W. Bush challenging the use of hand recounts of ballots in Florida's final make-or-break presidential results.

In the latest development in the legal battle over one of the closest and most bitterly contested presidential elections in history, the nation's highest court granted one Bush appeal, but rejected, for the time being, the other appeal.

The Supreme Court's decision to get involved in Florida's contested presidential election was issued in a brief order. The high court said it will hold 90 minutes of oral arguments in the case on Dec. 1.

Moving with unusual speed, the Supreme Court acted just two days after lawyers for Texas Gov. Bush asked the justices to review a Florida Supreme Court (news - web sites) ruling allowing the manual recounts.

Bush has a 930-vote lead over Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) in official results in Florida. The Gore campaign hopes to get enough votes in the manual recounts now underway in two Florida counties to overcome the lead. Gore's campaign has vowed to fight on in court if the final results expected on Sunday give Bush the presidency. <P>

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From AP:

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to intervene in the Florida presidential recount, saying Friday it will hear one of George W. Bush's appeals that seeks to bar hand-counted ballots in the disputed election.

In a stunning development and a victory for Bush, the nation's highest court said it will hear arguments Dec. 1 on whether to overturn the Florida Supreme Court's decision that allowed manually recounted votes to be added to Florida's vote total.

"The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted," the court's order said.

The justices rejected a second challenge filed by Bush, papers that sought to appeal a federal judge's ruling that let the hand recounts go forward.

The court's Dec. 1 date is five days after Florida Sec. of State Katharine Harris planned to certify a winner in the state that stands to pick the next president.

The justices said they would consider whether the Florida Supreme Court erred in limiting the secretary of state's discretion to certify election results.

The justices also said they would consider the following question: "What would be the consequences of this court's finding that the decision of the Supreme Court of Florida does not comply with" a federal law requiring states to resolve controversies regarding the appointment of electors under laws enacted before election day. <P>