Vote recount ended in Florida - Bush rejects Gore proposals Eds

In doing so, the Republican Harris rejected motions filed Tuesday afternoon with her office by Democratic-leaning Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The motions requested extensions, on the basis of ongoing hand vote recounts in each of the counties, to the 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline by which all of Florida's 67 counties were required to submit certified results from the Nov. 7 presidential election. »I've decided it is my duty under Florida law to exercise my discretion in denying these requested amendments,» she said. »The reasons given in their requests are insufficient to warrant waiver of the unambiguous filing deadline imposed by the Florida legislature.»

Florida's Republican-leaning Collier County also submitted a deadline extension motion to Harris' office, but for reasons unrelated to the hand recounts, CNN reported. Harris' announcement shot down a proposal suggested by Gore a little over two hours earlier on Wednesday evening that a statewide hand recount of the vote be conducted in Florida. Gore proposed the recount during a television address in which he said he believed that concluding the hand recounts underway in Miami- Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties was the way to end the election. But he then expanded his proposal. »I am also prepared, if Governor [George W.] Bush prefers, to include in this recount all the counties in the entire state of Florida,» he said. »I would also be willing to abide by that result and agree not to take any legal action to challenge that result."

Gore said he believed a statewide vote recount, conducted without »further interruptions», would be completed within seven days of its commencement. »Our goal must be what is right for America, machines can sometimes misread or fail to detect the way ballots are cast,» he said in justification of a hand recount. »We need a resolution that is fair and final, we need to move expeditiously to the most complete and accurate count that is possible.» Gore also suggested that he and Bush meet before final results from the election were released in order to tone down the rhetoric being issued by both camps. But Bush, who addressed the nation following Harris' speech, rejected both the prospect of a meeting between himself and Gore, and Gore's recount proposal. »Unfortunately what the vice president proposed is exactly what he's proposed all along, continuing with selective hand recounts that are neither fair nor accurate, or compounding the error by extending a flawed process statewide,» Bush said during an appearance on CNN. »This means every vote in Florida would be evaluated differently by different individuals using different judgement and, perhaps, different local standards, or, perhaps, no standards at all," he said. "This would be neither fair nor accurate, it would be arbitrary and chaotic.»

About the meeting, Bush said, »Once this election is over, I'll be glad to meet with Vice President Gore». Bush welcomed Harris' announcement, while Gore campaign manager William Daley immediately vowed legal action. »We are very sorry that the secretary of state has taken such a rash and precipitous action,» he said. »In light of the gravity of the situation and the pendency of this very matter before the Florida Supreme Court tomorrow morning we will pursue legal action to ensure...the hand counts continue under the pre-existing court decisions.» Harris' announcement came at the end of a frenzied day during which Florida's supreme court refused to end the hand recounts in the state. However, the U.S. appeals court in Atlanta later agreed to hear on Thursday arguments lodged by the Bush camp to stop the recounts. With the certification of the results submitted Tuesday, Bush is ahead of Gore in Florida by 300 votes. The only votes remaining to be counted in the state are an unknown number of overseas absentee ballots, which have to be in by midnight Friday. Florida's 25 electoral votes are key in this year's presidential election - the candidate that takes them wins the presidency. Harris said she expected Florida's final vote tally to be ready on Saturday.

(dpa)