Florida Court allows hand recounts

4:30 PM

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that hand-recounted ballots can be accepted by the state for another six days in the U.S. presidential election, a crucial victory for Democratic Vice President Al Gore in his bid to win the White House.

"The right of people to cast their votes is the paramount concern overriding all others," Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters told reporters.

The unanimous ruling by the seven-judge court said the hand recounted vote tallies must be accepted by the state until November 27 at the latest.

The court's decision could be key to determining the victor in the November 7 election. Gore needs 931 more votes to move ahead of Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush and claim the 25 Electoral College votes from Florida that will determine which man wins the presidency.

Three largely Democratic counties are still hand recounting votes, but unofficial results from the hand recounts have so far yielded fewer votes for Gore than his campaign had predicted on the basis of sample recounts last week.

- REUTERS

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