NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: So we have Al Gore contesting the outcome of the election in Florida. We also have a lawsuit now before the state Supreme Court regarding that butterfly ballot in Palm Beach County, that lawsuit brought by voters themselves. For more about this, here's CNN's Mark Potter in West Palm Beach -- Mark.</s>MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon. The lingering question of whether there would be a new presidential election here in Palm Beach County was to have been heard today before the Fourth District Court of Appeals in West Palm Beach. But before the hearing was to begin, about 20 minutes before, and after some disagreement among the judges there, the court decided to send the case directly to the Florida Supreme Court, saying that this was a matter of great public importance. So now the court there will be asked to decide whether a local judge here, Jorge Labarga, was correct in saying that he did not have the legal authority to order a new presidential election. The judge said that details of a presidential election are determined by the U.S. Constitution and by Congress, not by the local courts. But a number of Palm Beach residents, as we're all aware now, have filed lawsuits saying there should be a new election, claiming they lost their vote because of widespread confusion over the now infamous butterfly ballot. They say that thousands of voters lost their vote either because they double-punched or voted for the wrong candidate. They claimed, their lawyers claim that Florida law does allow a judge to order a new election if the court finds that the first election failed to reflect the will of the voters. As you can imagine, lawyers on the other side -- lawyers for George W. Bush -- disagree with that. They say that Judge Labarga got it right, and that they will argue before the Supreme Court, if the Supreme Court agrees to take this case, that there should not be a new presidential election here, that indeed that is a matter only for Congress and the U.S. Constitution, not for the courts. Back to you.</s>ALLEN: Mark Potter, thanks, we appreciate it.
Voters Sue Palm Beach County Over Butterfly Ballot