In agonizing doubt, Americans waited for a crucial Florida recount to settle the election between George W. Bush and Al Gore amid rival claims of victory and the possibility it will be days or weeks before the nation knows its next president.
Gore said the election mystery must be resolved "deliberately and without any rush to judgment." Bush urged a speedy resolution and said, "When that happens I'll be the president-elect."
Bush's brother Jeb, the governor of Florida, said the recount of nearly six million state ballots would be completed by Thursday evening. However, he said the final outcome might have to await a count of overseas ballots that could take 10 days.
PHOTO: AP
Democrats said it might take even longer to clear up alleged election irregularities in Florida.
"I can't say with certainty when this will be over," said Gore campaign chairman William Daley. He added that, "This is the beginning of the process, not the end of the process."
Near deadlock, Tuesday's election was one of the closest in US history. Gore held a tiny lead in the national popular vote but he and Bush both were achingly close to the 270 electoral votes required to win the White House. Florida's 25 electoral votes would put either candidate over the top.
The initial Florida totals, including all absentee ballots received so far, showed Bush ahead with 2,909,135 votes and Gore with 2,907,351 votes -- a difference of 1,784. A recount was mandatory because the margin was less than one-half of 1 percentage point.
Partial but unofficial results from a recount Wednesday of 32 of Florida's 67 counties showed Gore cutting into Bush's lead by almost half, gaining 843 votes.
Gore sent Daley and former Secretary of State Warren Christopher to Florida to oversee the recount. The vice president's aides were privately making the case that Gore's popular-vote lead gives him standing to contest the recount if state officials overlook voting irregularities.
As Democrats searched for potential ballot abuses and questioned the motives of Florida's Republican secretary of state, Gore's staff said a legal challenge was one option.
Even before the recount, Gore's campaign was eyeing legal options for forcing a new vote in heavily Democratic Palm Beach County, where confusion over how to complete the ballots may have boosted Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan's totals, a senior Gore adviser said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, county officials said 19,120 ballots in the presidential race were thrown out before they were counted because voters picked more than one candidate. Only 3,783 voters made that mistake on the US Senate portion of the ballot.
Gore said it was "crucial that the American people have full faith and confidence in the electoral process from which the president derives authority."
Daley said his boss would win Florida. "We believe when those votes are counted and that process is complete, totally complete, Al Gore will have won the Electoral College and the popular vote and therefore will be the next president," Daley said.
Bush dispatched former Secretary of State James A. Baker III to oversee the Republican monitoring team in Florida.
If Bush ends up winning Florida and Gore's lead in the national popular vote holds, Bush would be the fourth man in history -- the first in more than a century -- to win the presidency while coming in second in popular votes.
Regardless of who wins, the next president will face a Congress deeply divided by modest Democratic gains, with Republicans holding thinner majorities in the House and Senate.
Saying that neither side could claim a mandate, Senator Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said, "This was a classic status quo election."
President Bill Clinton, with 10 weeks left in office, pointed to the razor-thin results. "No American will ever be able to seriously say again, `My vote doesn't count.'"
With all precincts reporting unofficial results, Gore had 48,707,413 votes and Bush had 48,609,640 votes -- with just 97,773 votes separating them.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from