Officials Begin Florida Hand Count
By Karin Meadows / The Associated Press
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Election officials began recounting hundreds of thousands of ballots under tight security Saturday even as lawyers for Gov. George W. Bush's campaign worked to stop the hand counts in two counties. After hours of delay, election workers began simultaneous manual and mechanical recounts shortly after 2 p.m. EDT. They said the counts would take hours. Palm Beach County Judge Charles Burton, a member of the county's canvassing board, said despite the request for a federal injunction, the recount would proceed as planned. A hearing was scheduled for Monday in federal court on the Bush injunction request.
Bush Goes to Court To Halt Recount
By David Espo / The Associated Press
George W. Bush's campaign went to federal court in Florida on Saturday, determined to block Democrat requests for hand recounts of votes of portions of the state that holds the key to the 2000 presidential election. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III said the Republicans had acted "to preserve the integrity and the consistency and the equality and finality" of Tuesday's close vote between the Texas governor and Vice President Al Gore. The suit was filed in Miami. "It is brought reluctantly because the election of the president is properly left to the people, not the courts," it said in part. "But it is necessary because the current course of events threatens to undermine the democratic process." It was not clear when he spoke whether officials in Palm Beach and Volusia counties had yet begun the partial hand recount they agreed earlier to undertake. Baker insisted that a manual recount would be more susceptible to error than a machine tally. "Machines are neither Republicans nor Democrats and therefore can be neither consciously or unconsciously biased," he said.
Recount Judge Handles Tough Cases
The Associated Press
MIAMI -- The federal judge who will hear the Republican Party's request to halt ballot recounts in Florida is a Clinton-appointed Democrat with a reputation for courage in difficult situations. On Saturday, George W. Bush's campaign asked U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks to block Democrat requests for hand recounts of votes in parts of the state that appear to hold the key to the presidential election. Any appeal from a ruling by Middlebrooks would go to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 12-member court is considered somewhat conservative, but with a mix of liberal and conservative judges.
Bush Takes Lead in New Mexico Recount
By Zelie Pollon / Reuters
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Reuters) - In a dramatic turnabout, a recount has pushed Republican George W. Bush into a 17-vote lead over Vice President Al Gore in New Mexico, but there are still uncounted votes to be tallied, election officials said on Friday.
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