And as the recount battle has moved primarily to the courts, there has been a sudden need for election-law pundits who can explain complicated rulings.

Laurence H. Tribe, the Harvard constitutional scholar who represented Mr. Gore before the United States Supreme Court during the 2000 recount battle, argued the case for the Democrats.

Ms. Roberts, a Democratic county commissioner in Palm Beach, was a fierce supporter of Al Gore at the very center of the recount battle.

A13 Lawyers, scholars and politicians say the role played by the Florida Supreme Court in the recount battle is likely to leave a lasting mark on the court and several of its justices.

Representative Katherine Harris, the former state official who was at the center of disputed election rulings in the 2000 presidential recount battle, won her bid for a second term.

At times, the court fight had echoes of the recount battle that followed the 2000 presidential election in Florida.

He was re-elected in the 2010 municipal elections, but his 13-vote margin of victory over former mayor Terry Clayton led to a recount battle.

The narrow margin resulted in an ongoing judicial recount battle, and O'Connor resigned as mayor on March 28, 2011.

"We reserved resources to go toe-to-toe with Karl Rove's army in a scorched-earth World War III recount battle in as many as five states," Mr. Wade said.