US poll in legal tangle

Bush supporters say hand counting is inaccurate

The US presidential election looks increasingly likely to be settled in court as legal wrangles proliferate.

A Miami judge on Monday rejected a Republican request for an injunction to stop recounts in some key Florida counties being carried out by hand.

Court hearings

Republican appeal against hand recount thrown out

Democratic voters appeal over "butterfly ballots"

Gore camp threaten action over recount deadline

And a Florida state judge said he would rule on Tuesday whether the recounts could continue beyond the end of the day.

Victory nationwide for either Democrat Al Gore, or Republican George W Bush hangs on the outcome of the vote in Florida.

Mr Bush emerged from the first count with a lead so narrow that recounts were automatically triggered. He currently leads by fewer than 400 votes.

Gore campaign leaders say the manual recounts under way in two counties, and under consideration in a third, will not be finished by a deadline of 1700 (2200 GMT) on Tuesday set by the Florida state government.

They joined a legal action by Volusia county requesting a dismissal of the deadline; Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis said he would return a decision at 1030 (1530 GMT).

Bias alleged

The original deadline ruling sparked an angry response from Al Gore's Democratic campaign.

Al Gore called for the US public to be patient

Gore spokesman Warren Christopher said the decision by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris was "arbitrary and unreasonable... and seeks to nullify and frustrate the whole hand count vote provided by statute".

Mr Christopher said Ms Harris was a long-standing supporter of George W Bush, adding: "I think her statement has to be taken in that context."

In his first substantial public statement since the election Mr Gore urged the country to be patient while "every vote is counted and counted accurately."

"I would not want to win the presidency by a few votes cast in error or misinterpreted or not counted and I don't think Governor Bush wants that either," he told reporters as he left his vice-presidential office at the White House.

Appeal rejected

The decision by a federal judge in Miami to deny the Republicans' injunction request means the manual recounts in Volusia and Palm Beach will continue at least until 1700 on Tuesday.

Miami-Dade county is to hold a hearing on Tuesday on whether to go ahead with a manual recount.

The Gore campaign has said it will file litigation against Broward county, which started a manual recount, and then reportedly halted it, after finding no significant change in vote share for the two main candidates.

The Bush camp has yet to decide whether to appeal the judge's ruling. However, the situation is further confused by yet another court appeal.

A federal judge hearing a complaint by Democrat voters who objected to an allegedly confusing ballot paper known as the butterfly ballot, has already ruled that the state cannot certify the results until this case has been heard. The session is due to start early this week.

Some Americans are tired of the drawn-out process

There will be no final result while legal questions remain over the manual recounts and the counting of overseas ballots that are due on Friday.

According to opinion polls, most Americans do not want to see the courts involved in this battle for the presidency.

The Friday deadline for the tallying of postal ballots seems very unlikely to be the end of the matter.

Jesse Jackson silenced

Meanwhile, Democrat activist and civil rights leader, the Reverend Jessie Jackson, was forced to leave a rally in the town of West Palm Beach on Monday without speaking.

Police said it was no longer safe for him to continue to be on the platform.

Around 2,000 people had gathered in the centre of West Palm Beach, among them both Democratic and Republican party supporters.

Black rights groups have been calling for the FBI to investigate allegations of electoral fraud in Florida. Some voters say they were given pre-punched ballot papers at polling stations in Miami and north-west Florida.

Other election battlegrounds

Wisconsin (11 electoral votes)

Iowa (7 electoral votes)

Oregon (7 electoral votes)

New Mexico (5 electoral votes)

While the world's attention was focused on Florida, other electoral dramas were being played out in states that could still have a bearing on the result.

A recount in the south-western state of New Mexico, which Mr Gore won narrowly in the first vote, gave Mr Bush the lead by a mere 21 votes out of some 570,000 cast, according to the CBS network.

The Republicans were also threatening to challenge apparent victories by Mr Gore in the mid-western states of Wisconsin, Iowa and the north-western state of Oregon. Mr Gore led in all by some 6,000 votes or less.

Although Florida is a must-win for Mr Gore, Mr Bush knows that challenges in other states may still give him the presidency.