Anger flares as gap closes

Mobs of angry voters are demanding that Florida officials sort out a growing election mess that could leave the United States in limbo for weeks.

Crowds of Al Gore and George W. Bush supporters surrounded the Palm Beach County election offices yesterday, chanting angry slogans as the battle to lead America narrowed to a bare but unofficial 327 votes.

Banner-waving voters in Palm Beach were especially furious at a confusing ballot paper that forced officials to throw out 19,000 votes that were double-punched.

The ballot's design apparently made some Gore supporters vote for right-wing Reform candidate Pat Buchanan by mistake.

Some protesters seemed just as angry at others in their ranks who supported the rival candidate.

"Something happened that shouldn't have happened," one Gore supporter yelled in the face of a Bush voter.

"What happened was absolutely stupid," the placard-toting Bush man yelled back.

One Palm Beach woman told how the controversial ballot paper made her vote for the wrong person, as the crowd behind her chanted, "Recount, recount."

It was all part of another day of chaos in which Vice-President Al Gore flew 50 lawyers to Florida, talkback hosts mocked everyone involved and officials admitted they would take at least another week to sort out who had won.

The premature declarations by news organisations claiming that Mr Gore had won Florida have come under Congressional scrutiny, with claims the early call may have discouraged voters elsewhere from going to the polls.

Republican Billy Tauzin of Louisiana sent letters to network chiefs and the Associated Press. Mr Tauzin said calling Florida for Mr Gore "may have sent a signal out to Americans that this election was being decided in a way that was not accurate.

"When they're being told by the networks that it's already over, that's akin to disenfranchising them."

The election result is even less clear now than it was on Tuesday night, when figures had Mr Bush winning by 1784 votes in Florida.

Under the US system, candidates need 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency. The election is so close that whoever gets Florida's 25 college votes will become President.

Last night, estimates from 66 of 67 Florida's counties put Mr Bush's lead at 327 votes, from six million cast. The 67th county, Palm Beach, is to recount today.

The disarray in Palm Beach, which includes one of the wealthiest communities in the US, is causing the most problems.

Three people have already filed lawsuits about the confusing ballot paper, although no election challenge has succeeded in Florida since 1974.

The ballot paper had candidates' names lined up on the right and left of a thin strip. Voters had to punch holes out of the strip to show who they wanted for President - but many people said they were confused and punched the wrong hole.

The problem is exacerbated by a Florida election law, which says candidates' names must be to the left of the holes.

Meanwhile, thousands of votes trickling in from overseas have yet to be counted. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris said it would take at least until Friday, US time, for the results to be certified. That is the deadline for overseas votes.

But even then, legal challenges are likely to extend the drama.

Gore officials yesterday called for a recount in four Florida counties and maybe even a new election in Palm Beach.

But Bush campaigners said that that would "politicise and distort" the electoral system.

Meanwhile, Bush supporters are considering challenges to results in Wisconsin and Iowa, which Mr Gore won by just a few thousand votes.

Herald Online feature: America votes