Bush backers cheer vote verdict

TALLAHASSEE - Cheering erupted outside Florida's ornate cabinet room yesterday as the state's top elections officials certified results of the United States presidential vote and awarded Florida's pivotal 25 electoral votes to Republican George W. Bush.

Bush beat Democrat Al Gore by just 537 votes - a victory Democrats will challenge in a legal assault before the Texas Governor can be confirmed as the next leader.

Bush's win, announced by the state's top election official Katherine Harris, came after an election-day aftermath swamped by recounts, allegations of irregularities and intimidation, and multiple legal challenges that have kept the nation in suspense for 19 days.

"This has been a tough election. It has not always been pretty but we got the job done and we got it done right," said Bob Crawford, state Agriculture Commissioner and a member of the Canvassing Board, after the announcement was made.

"I think it's over and it should be over ... We have a winner and it's time to move on."

Cheers broke out among the crowds of Bush supporters gathered outside the state capitol building in Tallahassee when Harris declared Bush the winner.

Their spontaneous celebration startled Harris and capped a boisterous daylong vigil by backers of Bush and Democrat Al Gore.

Harris, a Republican, had wanted to certify the results last weekend. But a Democrat-dominated state Supreme Court said manual recounts - which Democrats believed could yield more votes for Gore - must be included and set a new deadline of 11 am yesterday New Zealand time for the counties to report in.

Bush watched his lead slip during the painstaking recounts but just hung on. Announcing the certified results, Secretary of State Harris said Bush won 2,912,790 and Gore 2,912,253, a difference of 537.

"Accordingly, on behalf of the state Elections Canvassing Commission and in accordance with the law of the state of Florida, I hereby declare Governor George W. Bush the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes for the President of the United States."

Florida's vote is decisive in determining who will be the 43rd President as both men need the state's electoral votes to reach the 270 needed to win the White House.

Harris said the commission had not included a partial recount tally sent in by Palm Beach County with minutes to spare before the deadline expired. Instead, she included the figures from an earlier machine recount.

Counters in Palm Beach - focus of the post-election firestorm - had toiled in vain to finish their recount. They even kept going after the deadline.

In keeping with a historic moment, the certification took on all the trappings of ceremony with Harris and her colleagues, Crawford and state elections division chief Clay Roberts, taking their seats before the national and state flags and the Florida official seal.

Harris, who has been accused by Democrats of being a partisan player in the fight because of her involvement in the Bush campaign, reiterated that she disagreed with the Supreme Court ruling that prolonged the procedure.

"It was and it remains my opinion that the appropriate deadline for filing certified returns in this election are those mandated by the legislature. And it remains my opinion that the proper returns in this election are the returns that were certified by those deadlines," she said in preliminary remarks.

"The Florida Supreme Court, however, disagreed. The court created a new schedule for filing certifications and conducting election contests rather than implementing the schedule enacted by the legislature and that is the schedule that we're following."

But a legal imbroglio means the struggle to lead the world's most powerful nation may be far from over. Gore aides plan to challenge the outcome in Miami-Dade county, and possibly Palm Beach.

The challenges, coupled with the US Supreme Court's decision to intervene on the issue of whether hand recounts can be included in Florida's total tally, have virtually ensured the unresolved election will continue into December.

"People are going to have differences, but we as a nation need to come back together and work for reconciliation," said the Rev Fred Griffin, a preacher from Tallahassee.

Angela Martin, who drove from Pensacola with her 11-year old daughter to witness the beginning of the end of the bitterly contested race, said the certified vote should stand, despite looming legal challenges. "I know the people in Palm Beach County are upset but we voted in Santa Rosa County and our votes counted as well."

"I am a concerned citizen. I believe Americans believe in fairness and justice and I don't think Bush is being fairly treated," said Susan Garland, aged 54, of Thomasville, Georgia. "I feel the election is being stolen."

Standing next to her, Mary Bruce, a Gore supporter from Jacksonville, Florida, urged Harris to allow manual recounts that could shift the election to the Vice-President to continue. "I came down here to make sure I support the Supreme Court action that we should get all the hand counts."

- REUTERS

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