US awaits key Florida ruling

Palm Beach prepares to recount 420,000 votes

A Florida judge is expected to rule shortly on whether recounts of the vote in the US presidential election may continue beyond 1700 (2200 GMT).

The judgement could decide the outcome of the election, as Democrats' hopes of overturning Republican George W Bush's narrow lead depend mainly on manual recounts that could take until the end of the week.

One key district, Palm Beach county, suspended its count on Tuesday pending legal proceedings.

But officials in Miami-Dade county voted 2-1 on Tuesday to carry out a partial hand recount in three precincts. A similar partial recount in Palm Beach led officials there to embark on a countywide recount.

Florida count

Bush leads by 388

Legal challenges

Republicans may appeal against ruling allowing hand counts

Private Democratic voters appeal over "butterfly" ballots

Democrats challenge recount deadline

Deadlines

Florida recount deadline Tuesday 2200 GMT

Postal votes must be in by Friday

Electoral college vote 17 December

Inauguration 20 January

Judge Terry Lewis has delayed his judgement by about 90 minutes and is now expected to announce his decision after 1700 GMT, after hearing arguments on Monday for the dismissal of a 2200 GMT deadline set by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris for the recounts to finish.

If Judge Lewis's ruling goes against the Democrats, Al Gore's hopes of capturing the presidency will depend on the postal votes due in by Friday.

The case was brought by one of the counties where a manual recount has been under way, and joined by the Gore campaign.

'Deal' offer

The head of Mr Bush's legal team in Florida James Baker offered on Tuesday "a deal" to end the competing legal action.

Mr Baker, a former secretary of state, said if the Democrats dropped their attempt to extend the recount deadline, Mr Bush would accept the result, including those votes recounted by hand, up to the 1700 Tuesday deadline.

"If the Gore campaign accepts this proposal and drops its litigation, we will dismiss our lawsuits," he said.

But Gore campaign chairman William Daley speaking from Washington, dismissed the offer saying; "It truly was not a proposal."

"I think we've got to not try to usurp the courts of Florida," he said.

Gore urges patience

Earlier on Monday, another judge rejected a Republican request for an injunction to stop the recounts being carried out by hand.

The Bush camp has yet to decide whether to appeal against the judge's ruling.

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.

Democrats say some voters failed to punch clean holes in the ballot paper, and that their voting intentions cannot be discerned by an automated count.

In his first substantial public statement since the election on 7 November Mr Gore on Monday 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.

Bush considers appeal

Gore spokesman Warren Christopher said the decision by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris to demand an end to the count by 1700 was "arbitrary and unreasonable... and seeks to nullify and frustrate the whole hand count vote provided by statute".

Some Americans are tired of the drawn-out process

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."

Attorney for Mr Bush, Bary Richard, told Judge Lewis that the counties had no grounds in law to demand an extension of the deadline.

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.

More funds sought

Democrats have promised to bring another court case against Broward county in Florida, in order to force it to continue a manual count which it started and then broke off, reportedly after finding that the new results did not differ significantly from those of the first count.

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.

Both sides are reported to have been seeking $3m of extra donations to enable them fund their recount campaigns.

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