Gore pins hopes on Florida court

Al Gore is not yet throwing in the towel

Democrat Al Gore is making what could be his last legal stand on Tuesday, four weeks to the day after the still-undecided US presidential election.

His legal team is appealing against two different rulings that favoured his Republican opponent George W Bush on Monday.

Mr Gore's chief lawyer David Boies said the hearings at the state's supreme court would be "the end of the battle".

"Whoever wins the Florida supreme court, we will accept that," he said.

In Florida on Monday, Circuit Court Judge Sanders Sauls comprehensively rejected Mr Gore's appeal for crucial hand recounts to be allowed in the state's final election tally.

Earlier in the day, the US Supreme Court had ruled that Florida's high court had failed to adequately explain its decision to allow hand counts to continue past a deadline set by the Florida secretary of state.

Burden of proof

In his ruling, Judge Sauls said Mr Gore failed to prove that a recount would alter the result in Florida, which Republican George W Bush won by an almost impossibly small margin.

There is no credible statistical evidence ... that the results of the statewide election in the state of Florida would be different

Circut Court Judge Sanders Sauls

The Gore campaign believed that hand recounts would find enough votes to overturn his rival's lead of less than 1,000 votes.

David Boies, the head of Mr Gore's legal team, complained that "this ruling comes without the judge having looked at a single ballot".

He also said that the judge had misinterpreted the law, putting a higher burden of proof on Mr Gore than the law required.

Good day for Bush

The US Supreme Court verdict was welcomed by the Bush campaign as good news.

In a unanimous opinion, the court said it was unclear about certain key points of the Florida Supreme Court ruling, and sent the case back to the state court for further proceedings.

The Florida court said it would consider submissions on the case until Tuesday afternoon.

The Florida Supreme Court ruling meant that Mr Bush's lead of 930 votes was cut to 537. That original lead may now be restored.

Gore supporters declined to see the decision as a reversal for their candidate, and said it was a neutral decision or "timeout".

Time running out

Mr Gore's lawyer David Boies criticised the Florida ruling

Mr Gore's legal team say they expect Florida's seven supreme court judges to stand by their original decision but to clarify their reasons.

The Florida Supreme Court decision allowing extra time for recounting ballots has been Mr Gore's only major legal victory to date.

But time is running short for Mr Gore to win the recount he needs to reverse Texas Governor Bush's lead and take the White House.

On 12 December, Florida will make its appointments to the electoral college which chooses the president.

Other legal challenges

Fresh controversy has also been brewing over claims of election irregularities in Florida.

The Justice Department in Washington has confirmed it is investigating complaints that large numbers of black Floridians - traditional Democrat supporters - were prevented from voting.

Spokeswoman Kara Peterman said the department had two people in Florida "to see what, if any, federal investigation is warranted".

Further legal challenges have been brought by Democrats in Florida's Seminole and Martin counties.

A Democratic victory in either of those cases - with which Mr Gore is not associated - would give the vice-president more than enough votes to pull ahead of Mr Bush.

Latest

4 Dec: Florida judge refuses to overturn certified Florida election results and blocks recounts.

4 Dec: Federal Supreme Court in Washington rules that a decision to extend a deadline to allow hand counts to be filed in Florida's presidential elections should be set aside.

What next?

12 Dec: Deadline for Florida to certify votes. Florida legislature may appoint electors if election still in dispute

18 Dec: Electoral college meets in each state to elect 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

Story so far

7 Nov: On election day US TV networks call Florida for Gore, then Bush, then say too close to call. Close result triggers automatic recount

14 Nov: After deadline for certification and hand recounts in some Florida counties Bush still has narrow lead

18 Nov: Official count, including overseas ballots, increases Bush's lead to 930 votes

26 Nov: After extension of hand recounts, Bush declared winner by 537 votes, but court battles continue

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