TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Hopes faded Thursday for a quick resolution of the disputed presidential election, as George W. Bush's lead shrank in an unofficial count and Al Gore challenged the legitimacy of the vote.
The chairman of Gore's campaign threatened to sue, if necessary, to block Bush from taking the White House and demanded a hand count of several thousand ballots. "If the will of the people is to prevail, Al Gore should be awarded a victory in Florida and be our next president of the United States," said chairman Bill Daley.
Bush aides claimed the vice president was trying to rerun a race they believe he lost at the ballot box. "Our democratic process calls for a vote on election day. It does not call for us to continue voting until someone likes the outcome," Don Evans, Bush's campaign chairman, replied.
On yet another remarkable day of political drama, filled with intrigue and invective, Florida election officials said completion of a mandatory recount will take at least a few more days.
They announced Thurday that the recount had been completed in 53 of their state's 67 counties and that each candidate had picked up an additional 526 votes, leaving Bush in front by 1,784 out of a total of nearly 6 million cast.
But a survey conducted by Associated Press found that, with 66 of the counties contacted, Bush's lead had fallen to just 229 votes. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris did not dispute the accuracy of the AP count.
Regardless, the tally will continue to change and the outcome apparently will not be known for at least another week, the deadline for counting ballots trickling in from Florida residents living overseas.
In other developments, at least eight lawsuits challenging Florida's results were filed in state or federal court by Gore supporters, including six in Palm Beach County and two in Tallahassee, where racial discrimination was alleged.
Sowing further confusion, officials in Oregon said Gore had pulled ahead there in the fight for the state's seven electoral votes. But Gore's lead was so narrow--2,192 votes out of more than 1.5 million cast--it could trigger a recount once all the votes are tallied.
In New Mexico, with five electoral votes, a count of 67,000 ballots in Bernalillo County continued, with Gore clinging to a 10,000-vote lead over Bush. The ballots were not counted right away because of a computer error.
