The Sunday 5 p.m. deadline for recounts in Florida has passed, but the Presidential election drama continues - and what a cliffhanger.
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified the state's election results Sunday, giving Gov. George W. Bush (R) Florida's 25 electoral votes. But both Bush and Vice President Al Gore (D) continue to fight it out in court.
Gore's attorneys are challenging results in Miami-Dade, Nassau, and Palm Beach counties. And the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments from both sides on Friday in Bush's appeal of the Florida Supreme Court's decision to allow the recounts to proceed.
"At some point we must have closure," said former Secretary of State James Baker after the Florida certification. "At some point the law must prevail and the lawyers must go home. We have reached that point."
But in a statement Sunday, Gore's running mate Joe Lieberman (D) said, "Vice President Gore and I have no choice but to contest these actions."
"The Secretary of State of Florida has decided to certify what, by any reasonable standard, is an incomplete and inaccurate count ... What is at issue here is nothing less than every American's simple, sacred right to vote," Lieberman said.
Harris accepted new vote totals in 16 counties. But she rejected a partial count from Palm Beach County, which was unable to meet the 5 p.m. deadline. The Palm Beach County Canvassing Board finished its recount shortly after 7 p.m.
Although Harris could have waited until 9 a.m. Monday morning to certify the results, according to the Florida Supreme Court decision rendered Tuesday, she refused to grant an extension to Palm Beach County and certified the election Sunday night.
Another controversy in Palm Beach, concerning the legality of the so-called "butterfly ballots," will be decided on appeal by the Florida Supreme Court.
Gore's campaign also will ask that the results of the Miami-Dade County partial hand recount be included in the final vote tally. Officials decided to stop the count Wednesday because they believed they would not have enough time under the Sunday deadline to finish counting the 10,000 votes left uncounted by the machines. Of the 388 votes that were recounted, Gore gained 156.
In Nassau County, the Democrats object to a decision to revert to Election Day results after throwing out the results of a machine recount.
The General Services Administration will not provide funds or office space to either candidate for transition into the presidency until the election results are clear. GSA officials said the results will not be clear until all challenges are settled in court.
"We must view this from both candidates' perspectives," said Larry J. Sabato, professor of government and foreign affairs. "The Bush people are doing what is reasonable from their perspective, and the Gore people are doing what is reasonable from theirs."
Florida's official count gave Bush 2,912,720 votes and Gore 2,912,253. Bush maintains an official 537-vote lead out of 6 million votes cast in the state.
Sabato noted that Bush's margin in Florida is only 3/1,000 of 1 percent of the national vote, whereas Gore's margin of 337,000 votes in the national popular vote is almost three times the margin by which former President John F. Kennedy beat Richard Nixon in 1960.
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