Fla. Finally
Certifies Nov. 7 Vote
Sunday November 26 10:14 PM ET
By BRENT KALLESTAD, Associated Press Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - George W.
Bush (news
- web
sites) carried 51 of Florida's 67 counties, but he
had to wait almost three weeks to hear he'd been
awarded the state's 25 electoral votes and even that
declaration remained subject to legal challenge.
While the three-person state
canvassing board certified a final tally that showed
Bush with a lead of 537 votes over Democrat Al Gore (news
- web
sites), the fate of those decisive 25 electoral
votes remained in doubt.
While Bush carried the vast majority
of the state's 67 counties, Gore carried heavily
Democratic Broward County, home to Fort Lauderdale, by
almost 210,000 votes, and Palm Beach County by about
117,000 votes.
In the hand recounts, Gore cut into
the Bush lead by 767 votes in Broward County - but
Palm Beach's dogged recount effort was not tallied.
Palm Beach County election workers
completed their hand recount too late to gain
acceptance in the final state tally. But they said
they would release their complete count on Monday.
In Miami-Dade County, the hand
recount abruptly stopped on Wednesday when election
board officials said they did not have time to finish
by the 5 p.m. deadline set by the state supreme court.
Some canvassing boards went back to
re-examine military overseas absentee ballots after
reports of a Democratic-organized effort to challenge
those votes; the second look at previously rejected
overseas ballots boosted Bush's margin by about 90
votes or more.
On election night, Nov. 7, Bush
looked like the winner by the closest of margins -
less than 1,000 votes out of nearly six million cast.
He carried counties from Baker to
Washington, building large margins - in military areas
near Jacksonville, Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach and
Panama City as well as the wealthy retirement areas
around Fort Myers.
Gore won big in the Gold Coast area
of South Florida and claimed close victories in
competitive Orange (Orlando) and Pinellas (St.
Petersburg) counties while losing narrowly in
Hillsborough (Tampa).
Bush benefited from decisions by
Harris not to include the partial hand-recount in Palm
Beach County and the decision by Miami-Dade County
officials to stop counting without reviewing more than
10,000 disputed ballots.
``She has thrown aside at least 400
votes for Al Gore that have been counted,'' Gore
spokesman Doug Hattaway said. ``And ignored votes yet
to be counted.''
Gore officially wound up with a
29,000-vote advantage in Miami-Dade, giving him an
advantage of 366,000 votes in the state's three most
populous counties.
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