AUSTIN, Texas-The outcome of Tuesday's presidential election is still hanging in the balance as Florida recounts the more than 5 million votes that will determine whether Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) or Vice President Al Gore (D) will capture the majority of the nation's electoral votes.
Bush and Gore yesterday were locked in a tough electoral competition, with Gore garnering 260 electoral votes to Bush's 246.
Both candidates need Florida's 25 electoral votes to claim victory by winning at least 270 electoral votes.
A deadline for completion of the recount is set tentatively for 5 p.m. today, the end of the business day.
But overseas absentee ballots, which are not due officially until 10 days following Election Day, might keep election results in limbo for more than a week.
At midnight, Bush was leading Gore in Florida's recount by less than 2,000 popular votes, with 19 of 67 counties reporting, according to CNN.
Media stations prematurely conceded Florida to Gore early Tuesday evening, only to recant after Bush seemed to pull ahead in the state's popular vote with over 90 percent of precincts reporting.
After a nail-biting struggle throughout the night and early morning, the networks declared Bush the winner of Florida's electoral votes and subsequently the victor in the presidential contest.
But the results in the Sunshine State were called into question soon after, when Bush retained only a slight lead of roughly 1,700 votes over Gore, a less than .5 percent margin of victory in Florida.
State law mandates an automatic recount if a candidate wins by .5 percent of the popular vote or less, Florida election official Ed Kast said.
Gore, who had conceded defeat to Bush in a phone call earlier, recanted his concession and chose to wait for the results of the recount.
Gore had planned to make a concession speech to a crowd of supporters gathered in the rain at a Nashville plaza. But following the announcement of the recount, Gore opted to stay out of the public eye for the rest of the night.
Instead, Gore campaign manager William Daley addressed the awaiting crowd.
"This race is simply too close to call," Daley said. "And until the recount is concluded and the results of Florida become official, our campaign continues."
The Bush camp also kept its candidate in seclusion as news regarding the recount unfolded and Gore took back his concession. But Bush campaign chairman Don Evans encouraged supporters gathered at the capitol building in Austin, saying the Bush campaign was confident of its victory in Florida.
"We hope and believe that we have elected the next president of the United States," Evans said. "I'm confident that when it is all said and done, we will prevail."
After all Florida districts recount the votes, they will send results to Tallahassee to develop a state canvassing report, Kast said.
As the state's votes are reexamined, allegations have been made in several counties about unclear ballot sheets. Some Florida residents claim the ballots unclearly marked the area to cast a vote for Gore. Subsequently, some residents have said they accidentally cast a vote for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan instead of Gore.
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