Bush sets course for White House

George W Bush: "New tone" needed in Washington

Republican candidate George W Bush says he is preparing to take office as US president and has urged his Democrat rival Al Gore to drop his legal challenges to the Florida result.

Mr Bush said he and his running mate, Dick Cheney "will undertake the responsibility of preparing to serve as American president and vice-president".

Key dates

8/11: Al Gore retracts concession of defeat - small margin triggers automatic recount

9/11: Democrats demand manual recount in four counties

21/11: Florida Supreme Court rules that manual recounts of ballots must be included

24/11: US Supreme Court agrees to hear Republican appeal

26/11: George W Bush certified as Florida winner - Gore camp announces plans for new legal actions

He was speaking after Florida's Secretary of State Katherine Harris had declared him the winner in the state's presidential election.

But Mr Gore's team said it would fight on for the presidency in the courts.

Ms Harris said Mr Bush had 537 votes more than Mr Gore in results that included absentee ballots and recounted votes from several of Florida's counties.

The Florida result is vital as it will give the winner 25 votes in the electoral college system - enough to secure the presidency.

In what analysts said sounded like an acceptance speech, Mr Bush named Mr Cheney to head a transition office in Washington.

Florida result

Bush: 2,912,790

Gore: 2,912,253

Bush majority: 537

Nearly six million votes cast

He also set out plans for reforming social security and reducing taxes, stressing the need for Republicans and Democrats to work together.

He said Mr Gore was challenging "the outcome of the election, and that is not the best route for America".

Palm Beach votes excluded

In announcing Mr Bush the winner in Florida, Ms Harris excluded partial results from a manual recount in Palm Beach county, saying they were incomplete and did not comply with Florida's election laws.

Lieberman: Americans deserve a fair outcome

The result may yet be overturned, as the Democrats immediately said they would contest it in the courts.

Mr Gore's running mate, Joe Lieberman, said Ms Harris had certified "an incomplete and inaccurate count".

He said votes had been "unjustifiably cast aside," and what was at stake was "nothing less than every American's simple, sacred right to vote".

But Republicans argue that the American people do not want legal wrangling to decide who their next president will be.

How can we teach our children that every vote counts if we are not willing to make a good-faith effort to count every vote?

Joe Lieberman

As the Florida result was announced a large crowd of Bush supporters outside the state capitol in Tallahassee erupted in cheers and chants of "President Bush!"

Ms Harris had turned down a request by Palm Beach county for an extension of the deadline for it to finish its hand counting of the votes.

Legal challenges

But both candidates are challenging the vote count in the courts.

Gore supporters in fighting mood

The US Supreme Court is to hear a Republican appeal against the Florida hand recounts on Friday. It will also hear arguments from the Democrat camp.

The Democrats are challenging the count in three Florida counties - Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Nassau. The hearings will start in the Tallahassee state court on Monday.

Mr Bush's chief lawyer James Baker called for an end to the haggling.

"It's time to honour the will of the people. This election must be brought to a conclusion," he said, adding that the US had never decided a presidential election in court.

Legal battle

US Supreme Court to hear Republican appeal against Florida hand recounts

Democrats to contest tally from three counties - Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Nassau

Republican lawsuits against five Florida counties over rejection of overseas military absentee ballots

But Gore lawyer David Boies said: "We won't have a legal winner tonight because the contest doesn't start until Monday morning," referring to the campaign's plans to contest some county results in state courts.

The Gore campaign plans to challenge the results filed from Miami-Dade, Nassau and Palm Beach, where officials took a tougher approach towards poorly punched ballot papers than their counterparts in Broward.

Our correspondent Paul Reynolds in the Florida state capital, Tallahassee, says the Democrats have two main lines of attack in challenging the Palm Beach result:

• the issue of the so-called butterfly ballot, said to be confusing

• the criteria for counting indented ballots are too strict

The Democrats also challenge the decision by Miami-Dade officials to abandon their recount after deciding they could not complete the task by Sunday's deadline.

Their complaint against Nassau is that the county chose to ignore the results of a recount, and to stick with the result certified on 15 November.

---

• 1 Dec: US Supreme Court to hear Republican appeal against Florida recounts
• 6 Dec: Deadline for New Mexico recount
• Early Dec deadline for Oregon recount

• 12 Dec: Deadline for Florida to certify its votes. Electoral college votes with or without Florida
• 18 Dec: Electoral college meets in each state. Man with most votes is president

• 6 Jan: Congress counts electoral college votes. If no winner, House of Representatives chooses president and Senate vice-president
• 20 Jan: Inauguration Day. If no president chosen, House speaker is acting president