Katherine Harris (born April 5, 1957) is an American politician, elected in 1998 as Secretary of State of Florida and in 2002 to the United States House of Representatives from Florida. A Republican, Harris won the 2002 election to represent Florida's 13th congressional district, serving for two terms, from 2003 to 2007. Harris lost her campaign in 2006 for a United States Senate seat from Florida. In 1994, Harris was noted for the most expensive campaign for the Florida Senate to date, winning her seat that year in her entry into electoral politics.
2000 US presidential election
As Secretary of State for the State of Florida (and co-chair of George W. Bush's election efforts in Florida), Harris was a central figure in the 2000 US presidential election in Florida. The election between Al Gore and George W. Bush was so close in Florida, separated by 537 votes, that a recount of the votes was called for.  After several recounts were inconclusive and the laws governing recounts were unclear, Harris halted the recounting process. She certified that the Republican candidate, Texas Governor George W. Bush, had defeated the Democratic candidate, Vice President Al Gore, in the popular vote of Florida and thus certified the Republican slate of electors. This victory in Florida allowed Bush to win the election. Her ruling was upheld in the state circuit court, but was subsequently overturned on appeal by the Florida Supreme Court.  The Florida Supreme Court decision was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore. (2000) In a per curiam decision, by a 7-2 vote, the Court in Bush v. Gore held that the Florida Supreme Court's method for recounting ballots was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. By a 5-4 vote, the US Supreme Court held that no alternative method for a recount could be established within the time limits set by the State of Florida.  The decision allowed Harris' previous certification of Bush as the winner of Florida's electoral votes to stand. Florida's 25 electoral votes gave Bush, the Republican candidate, 271 electoral votes, defeating Gore, who ended up with 266 electoral votes (with one D.C. elector abstaining).  Harris later published Center of the Storm, her memoir of the 2000 election controversy.

Q: What was Harris's role in the 2000 US Presidential election?
A: Harris was a central figure in the 2000 US presidential election in Florida.
What was her occupation during the election?
Harris halted the recounting process.
Harris halted the recounting process.