election questions - state court authority to second-guess the recount?

[Howard Gillman]

I agree with Eugene that finality is important.  I assume that if the
recount goes Bush, then the Florida Secretary of State calls the election
and people might hope that's it.

BUT, what if some Floridians go into STATE court to dispute the 3000+ votes
of those who thought they were voting Gore but ended up punching the card
for Buchanan.  What does judicial comity tell us about the authority of
state judiciary to take up this question?  Is this a matter purely for the
state courts to resolve (even if it means that the result of the election
is kept open for weeks/months)?  Would federal courts have the authority to
intervene and preempt the state courts from disrupting this outcome?  Under
what authority would federal courts act?

Howard Gillman
USC Political Science