2000 Election: Supreme Court Decision

Facts/Details:

1. The majority of the Supreme Court votes in favor of stopping the recount were from the most conservative justices.
2. The equal protection ruling had no basis in precedent or history. 
3. Bush v. Gore was actually the fourth intervention by the US Supreme Court in the outcome of the presidential election. 
4. There were a few different types of machine recounts. Some checked the arithmetic while others checked ballots.
5. Thirty states fail to specify concrete standards for manual recounts. 
6. Poor counties have older machines that count about 97% of the votes, while newer counties have machines that count about 99%.
7. Bush thought the Florida Supreme Court has broke the law, while Gore believed it was merely an interpretation. 
8. Six justices were unwilling  to accept Bush's major submission. 

Post Reading Questions:

1. What is a "minimalist ruling?"
2. What irreparable harm did the manual recount cause?
3. Has this ruling created a new precedent that has affected other elections?
4. Was the recount stopped due to lacking uniformity in recounting methods? Or were there other reasons?
5. Was it ever a consideration to simply continue using clear counting standards?