Gore-Bush Election Fight Goes to US Supreme Court


Gore Calls for Immediate Recount
The Florida presidential election war is headed for a historic showdown in the US Supreme Court at 10 a.m. EST on the morning of December 1, where George W. Bush will ask the justices to throw out the hand-counted tally that narrowed his lead over Al Gore.

Bush's team is hoping to convince the nation's highest court that the late-counted votes were unlawfully added to the pivotal Florida totals, while Gore's attorneys plan to urge the nine justices to let those votes stand.

Gore Calls for Immediate Recount

Lawyers for the Democrat candidate for the US presidency, Al Gore, have filed an emergency appeal to the Florida Supreme Court for an immediate recount of ballots from two disputed counties.

In a separate development, members of the Republican-dominated Florida legislature are planning to meet to appoint the state's 25 Electoral College members - a move, the Democrats say, could threaten the country with a constitutional crisis.

Mr Gore's supporters are increasingly worried about delays in the legal process, as both Republican and Democrat lawyers battle in the courts over whether to go ahead with the recounts.

As the appeal was filed, the first of two lorries carrying more than one million voting papers was on its way to the Florida capital, Tallahassee, under heavy armed protection.

The move was ordered by a judge in Tallahassee after the Democrats asked him to examine thousands of disputed ballot papers.

But he is not due to begin considering whether to order a recount of the ballots from Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties until Saturday.






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