Gore official: White House race "simply too close to call"

Gore campaign chairman William Daley said, "this race is simply too close to call" and he defiantly declared that "our campaign continues". "We cannot concede the election without being certain of the results in Florida," Daley said.

Daley was speaking to a crowd of hundreds gathered in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, at 4 a.m. who had expected to hear a concession speech from Al Gore. The crowd erupted in wild applause when Daley said the results were still uncertain.

George W. Bush was earlier declared the winner in the race for the White House by the major television networks after he appeared to have won the crucial 25 Electoral College votes from Florida to put him over the top of 270 votes needed for victory.

But Daley said the state was too close to call, and a recount would take place automatically. He said Bush's margin was only about 1,200 votes, while 5,000 votes remained uncounted. Just past 4:30 a.m., CNN showed the Florida vote being within 700 votes between the two candidates.

The narrow margin from nearly six million votes cast in Florida was well within the 0.5 per cent that requires a recount under the state's law.

Meanwhile, the national count of more than 94 million votes was almost as close with Gore leading Bush by less than 60,000 votes. The figure shown by CNN was an astonishing 47,123,818 for Gore and 47,063,088 for Bush.

Bush campaign chairman Don Evans appeared before an expectant crowd in Austin, Texas, to tell them that they believe Bush had won the election. "We hope and believe we have elected the next president of the United States," said Evans.

He confirmed that the Republican candidate led by around 1,200 votes, with several thousand votes still outstanding in the southeastern state that holds the key to the White House.

"They're still counting, and we're confident that when it's all said and done, we will prevail."

(la/dpa)