U.S. Supreme Court bars recount of disputed Florida ballots.

Byline: Charles M. Madigan and Jan Crawford Greenburg

The U.S. Supreme Court late Tuesday barred the recount of disputed ballots in Florida, crushing Vice President Al Gore's hope to find the votes to overtake Texas Gov. George W. Bush and effectively removing the key remaining legal obstacle to a Bush presidential victory.

The nation's highest court, in a 5-4 ruling, reversed the decision of the Florida Supreme Court allowing the recount. The court said any selective recount of votes in Florida that did not follow a rigid statewide standard was unconstitutional, violating the equal protection clause.

Moreover, the court also ruled along strict ideological lines that no recount should take place.

The selection of Electoral College delegates in Florida, the court's five conservative justices said, runs on a time-frame set by federal law that creates a "safe harbor" from Congressional challenges for Electoral College delegates who are certified by Dec. 12. The divided opinion gave the Florida court little leeway to resume the count, noting the complexity of creating a new vote counting system and actually conducting the count.

"That date is upon us, and there is no recount procedure in place under the State Supreme Court's order that comports with minimal constitutional standards," the majority ruled. "Because it is evident that any recount seeking to meet the Dec. 12 date will be unconstitutional for reasons we have discussed, we reverse the judgment of the Supreme Court of Florida ordering a recount to proceed."

The Supreme Court's dramatic action appeared to spell the end of the vice president's legal options in his quest for the White House. Within an hour of the ruling, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ed Rendell urged Gore to "act…