It was a time of flaring partisan tensions, hanging chads, agonizing delays and national controversy—or, if you were a Florida Supreme Court staff attorney, it might have been a period spent admonishing prying reporters.

After one of the closest presidential elections in history, nominees Al Gore and George W. Bush looked to Florida's wafer thin margins for answers, triggering a recount. A five-week legal battle ensued as Bush v. Gore came before the state Supreme Court, which ordered a manual recount only to be reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

That infamous Florida recount was almost 20 years ago. And as its anniversary approaches, the Florida Supreme Court's library and public information office is launching the Election 2000 Memory Project, a permanent archive and educational hub of anecdotes and photos from the time.

The court said it's looking for anyone who was a judge, court employee, lawyer, election worker, campaign worker, journalist or otherwise involved in the dispute between Nov. 7 and Dec. 12, 2000 to upload their recollections and any photographs to this online portal.

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'Grammi's judging'

Among the submissions so far: retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente recalled how surreal it was to see "blocks and blocks of satellite trucks and hundreds of reporters from around the world lining the streets in front of our court, day and night, for weeks on end, and hearing our names mentioned on national TV and talk show radio."

Pariente also reflected on how her young grandchild had watched the oral arguments on TV, expecting his grandmother to respond through the screen.

"When then 5-year old Timothy, now 25 and married, [was] asked if he knew what Grammi was doing, he replied matter of factly: 'Grammi's judging,' " Pariente wrote.

qProtests outside the Florida supreme court over the Bush v. Gore dispute. Photo: courtesy of Florida Supreme Court. Protests outside the Florida supreme court over the Bush v. Gore dispute. Photo: courtesy of Florida Supreme Court.

Former Justice Major B. Harding said new phone lines were installed to handle the influx of calls to the clerk's and justice's offices.

"My assistant, Helen West, would listen to the many phone messages left on the office phone and pass along the calls that were personal," Harding wrote. "She also laughed and told me that she was not old enough to listen to some of the messages left on the office calls."

Then-Supreme Court staff attorney Susan O'Halloran recalled being perturbed one night when a New York Times reporter somehow tracked down her home phone number—before that was an easy thing to do on the internet.

"He wanted me to give him inside information on my justice's thoughts about the case and said he wouldn't reveal me as a source," O'Halloran said. "I gave the reporter a quick lesson on judicial staff and legal ethics and asked that he not call again."

News agencies had established "temporary headquarters" outside the courthouse, the way Justice Harding's then-secretary Helen West remembers it.

"Everything could be an item for the news. 'Stay away from windows.' 'Enter and leave courthouse at back door.' 'Do NOT discuss ANYTHING Bush or Gore," West wrote.

The deadline for submissions to the project is Aug. 31.

"Your stories and experiences are valuable historical insights to that time and place," a press release from the court's public information officer Craig Waters said. "What do you remember from that time: increased workload, teamwork and camaraderie, late nights, disrupted routines, the distraction of Florida's recounts constantly on TV news? What memories do you have about how you felt during the chaos of the time? What was the atmosphere like in your life or at your office? Did you walk around and take pictures? Did you meet a news reporter? Did you see something interesting, funny or unusual?"

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