Election briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 16, 2000

Counting slow in several states

WASHINGTON -- The slow counting continues in several other states with close races for president.

In New Mexico, Gore was up by about 5,000 votes on Election Night, until officials in Bernalillo County, the state's largest, which includes Albuquerque, figured out that a computer glitch had prevented counting of thousands of ballots. After the problem was fixed, Bush was winning by 17 votes. Then Dona Ana County discovered that someone had read 620 absentee votes for Gore as 120 votes. Gore has held onto the lead since then. A rundown of counting still under way:

IOWA: All counties have submitted their final tallies, and Gore leads by 4,047 votes out of nearly 1.3-million cast. It's now up to the Bush campaign to decide whether to request a recount.

NEW MEXICO: With several counties still working on final totals, Gore leads by 377 votes out of more than 571,000 cast. Republicans haven't asked for a recount, but they got the state police to impound ballots in case they are needed for a challenge.

WISCONSIN: With a dozen counties left to report, Gore leads by 5,805 votes out of about 2.5-million cast. The canvassing will not be finished until Friday. After that, either campaign will then have three business days to request a recount.

OREGON: State officials continue to count mail-in ballots, with Gore leading by 4,182 votes out of nearly 1.4-million cast. Several thousand votes are yet to be counted, both from heavily Democratic and Republican counties.

Foreign leaders seek assurance on election

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- Fascination with the electoral aftermath playing out in Florida doesn't stop at America's shores. It was a constant undercurrent Wednesday halfway around the world in the tiny Southeast Asian kingdom of Brunei, where foreign leaders from four continents also appeared to be caught up in the drama.

President Clinton found himself regularly forced to comment on and explain the situation, and allay the concerns of his counterparts. Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the issue publicly as he greeted Clinton. It came up again as Clinton attended a meeting with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung.

Others commented on the controversial U.S. presidential contest when the 21 leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit assembled for a photograph.

Asked by reporters how he was going to explain the unending election saga to foreign leaders, Clinton said he would tell them that there was nothing to worry about and that recounts were in progress according to an accepted legal process.

"We have plenty of time. There's nothing to worry about," he said.

Lawmakers propose review of electoral system

WASHINGTON -- Two congressmen on Wednesday proposed a broad review of the American electoral process, one of numerous ideas arising out of Congress in the wake of the presidential election standoff that has brought legislative work to a halt.

Reps. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and Jim Leach, R-Iowa, introduced legislation to form a bipartisan 12-member commission to recommend how best to ensure the integrity of future federal elections.

The panel would look into the Electoral College, voter registration, mail-in balloting, voting technology, ballot design, weekend voting and campaign finance reform.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., asked the General Accounting Office, the investigative wing of Congress, to examine state election laws and practices and how they compare in minimizing fraud, error and irregularities. She also asked the GAO to look into the voting over the Internet.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he will introduce legislation in January to pay for a study by the Federal Election Commission on alternative voting methods, such as online voting, voting by mail, computerized voting machines and expanded voting hours.

'4-time voter' says he lied

MILWAUKEE -- A college student who said on national television that he voted four times on Election Day has admitted that he lied. The 18-year-old Marquette University freshman from Hudson, Wis., told ABC News' World News Tonight With Peter Jennings on Monday that he filled out four ballots using his own name.

The student appeared on local television along with his lawyer, Laura Arbuckle, who read a statement Wednesday acknowledging that he had lied and retracting his original statement.

The student did not speak or identify himself, and Arbuckle would not identify him.

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