Bush Camp Alleges Irregularities in Florida Hand Recounts

The campaign of US Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush on Saturday alleged irregularities in hand recounts of the presidential votes in the state of Florida.

In a preview of the arguments to be put before the Florida Supreme Court on Monday, Bush's spokeswoman Karen Hughes said the recounting process is "completely untrustworthy."

"We now have clear and compelling evidence from eyewitnesses that this manual recount process is fundamentally flawed and is no longer recounting, but is distorting, reinventing and miscounting the true intentions of the voters of Florida," she said.

In rebuttal, Chris Lehane, spokesman of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore accused the Bush camp of injecting "raw, crass partisan politics into a situation that ought to be guided by the laws."

Gore's lawyers also defended the effort in papers filed with the Florida Supreme Court, saying "manual recounts are an essential part of the law of Florida."

Both sides will present their arguments at Monday's hearing before the state Supreme Court. The court will decide whether the manual recounts should be added to the state's official election tally.

The final tally of overseas absentee ballots, released by Florida's Secretary of State Katherine Harris on Saturday, showed Bush extended his lead from 300 votes to 930 in the state. Harris said in a statement that Bush won 1,380 of overseas votes while Gore got 750.

"We are hopeful that once the Florida Supreme Court has heard arguments in this case, the laws of Florida will prevail and the election will be certified," said Bush's spokeswoman.

The state's Supreme Court, in a ruling on Friday, prevented Harris from certifying the final results of the election on Saturday.

The Gore camp has pressed for hand recounts in heavily Democratic counties in Florida -- Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward -- hoping to overtake Bush's lead in Florida's presidential votes.

Bush and Gore are fighting for the 25 Electoral College votes in Florida which will decide the outcome of the US presidential election held earlier this month.



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