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Judge To Rule On Rejected Military Ballots
by Patrick Moser
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AFP) - George W. Bush Saturday withdrew a petition requesting a Florida court to order that hundreds of discarded overseas military ballots be included in the presidential election results.
But the Bush campaign also announced further litigation.
The Republican candidate said in a written notice to the court that he decided to drop the petition - which seemed unlikely to be granted - since vote counters in several of the 13 counties named as defendants agreed to reconsider the issue.
At the same time, his campaign said it was taking legal action against those Florida counties that still refuse to tally the rejected overseas votes.
The Bush campaign said the lawsuits would be filed later Saturday, to beat the Sunday 5 p.m. (2200 GMT) deadline for the certification of the Florida result, which will determine whether Bush or his Democratic rival Al Gore becomes the next U.S. president.
Unofficial tallies show that 1,547 overseas absentee ballots, or 40% of the total received in Florida, were declared invalid, notably because they were not dated, lacked a signature, or were not filed by registered voters.
But vote counters in several counties had a second look at the rejected ballots, and decided to include them after all. Others were still discussing the issue on Saturday.
"Thus, as a result of the filing of this action it appears that the votes of many servicemen and servicewomen that had been wrongfully excluded will now be counted through voluntary compliance with the law by many defendant canvassing boards," the notice said.
However, it said that vote counters in some districts "have publicly adopted a recalcitrant posture, and have refused to reconsider their initial decision."
Bush lawyer Ben Ginsberg said the Democrats should now take action to ensure all counties tally the discarded votes. "Vice President Gore and his campaign should do so now," he said at a news conference, flanked by three war veterans wearing their medals of honor around their necks.
Gore spokesman Doug Hattaway declined to comment on the Republican's decision, but reiterated the Democrat's position that "all lawfully cast ballots should be counted."
The notice of withdrawal was filed shortly before circuit Judge Ralph Smith was due to announce his ruling. He was widely expected to reject the petition, after having told Bush lawyers on Friday that there was no evidence of wrongdoing by the counters who dismissed the ballots.
In his written complaint filed on Wednesday, Bush said the overseas military ballots clearly favored him, and that the Democrats were bent on rejecting those votes.
Lawyers for the electoral boards of the 13 counties named in the motion argued that they had counted ballots in a fair and non-partisan manner, rejecting only those that were not legally cast.
The last official results of the presidential election in Florida gave Bush a 930 vote-lead over Democrat Al Gore, but as manual recounts continued in two counties, unofficial figures showed that the lead narrowed to 572.
The selection of the U.S. president has been tied up in legal wrangling since the November 7th election. The ultimate decision is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
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