In the 2000 U.S. Supreme Court case George W. Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, et al., then-presidential candidate George W. Bush challenged the decision of Florida's Supreme Court to allow a manual recount of votes in certain counties following a very close and contested election result between him and Al Gore in that state. The U.S Supreme court was asked to consider whether this ruling violated federal law, which requires all state electors be chosen on Election Day, or if it contravened equal protection principles by allowing different standards for counting votes across counties. In an unsigned opinion, the court vacated the Florida Supreme Court’s decision and remanded it back for further clarification about its consistency with federal statutes regarding presidential elections.

In the dissenting opinion for George W. Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, Justice Stevens argued that the Supreme Court's intervention in Florida's recount process was unnecessary and inappropriate because it violated principles of federalism. He believed that state courts should have been allowed to interpret their own laws without interference from a federal court unless there was clear violation of constitutional rights or federal law, which he did not see evidence of in this case. Furthermore, he contended that halting the recount could undermine public confidence in elections by creating an impression that political considerations rather than legal principles influenced the decision-making process at such a critical time during presidential election results dispute.