Not states, counties.
Florida only wanted to recount Dade, Broward, and West Palm Beach, which were dominant Gore states. SCOTUS said they had to recount the entire state.
Nobody said that if one state recounts, then all states must recount.
Now that you mentioned that, it does bring up an interesting future case. If it should come to be that the National Popular Vote compact passes and all states in the compact award their Electoral Votes to the winner of the national popular vote, the SCOTUS ruling could be interpreted to say that if any state in the compact recounts, then all states in the compact must recount.
-PJ
If I remember right, they decided to be fair to the rest, they had to recount the WHOLE state. If they recounted the whole state, then the rest of the nation could recount-equal protection.
That started the whole thing off. The Bush team took it to the Atlanta court which said they wouldnt take it, then after the FL court ruled, they took it directly to the SCOTUS.
The SCOTUS basically said..”How in the hell did you come to that conclusion?”
The FL court withdrew the ruling. They couldnt explain it.