Judge refuses to stop manual recount in Florida

7:30 AM

MIAMI - A United States judge has refused a request by Texas Governor George W. Bush's campaign to halt a manual recount of ballots from Florida counties in the Nov. 7 presidential election.

District Judge Donald Middlebrooks said Florida's vote-counting process appeared to be neutral and that he saw no reason for a federal court to intervene.

Republicans had sought the injunction, saying the manual recount in 4 heavily Democratic counties was unconstitutional. Democrats argued the recount was necessary because thousands of votes may have been missed by computers during a machine recount.

Bush leads Democrat Al Gore in Florida by about 300 votes according to an unofficial tally. The state's 25 electoral votes could determine the outcome of the US presidential race.

- REUTERS

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