esides Florida, three other states with close votes in the presidential race between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore faced possible recounts. A rundown:
New Mexico: In the closest presidential race outside of Florida, Gore squeaked by Bush yesterday, winning New Mexico by 481 votes out of nearly 600,000 votes cast, according to an Associated Press tally.
Should Bush decide to contest the results, he has until Dec. 4 to request a recount, or until Jan. 8 to challenge the outcome in court.
New Mexico has five electoral votes.
Wisconsin: With all 72 counties reporting and 11 electoral votes at stake, Gore defeated Bush by 5,697 votes out of nearly 2.6 million cast, an AP tally showed.
The state Elections Board received the last county canvass yesterday. Candidates have until 6 p.m. EST Wednesday to request a recount.
There have been several allegations of fraud, including college students who say they voted twice and charges that Democrats gave homeless people cigarettes to vote.
Oregon: Gore has apparently won Oregon's seven electoral votes, but by a slim margin. As of yesterday, the vice president had 718,208 votes to 711,444 for Bush, a lead of 6,764 votes.
An unofficial tally by the Associated Press indicated that about 1,800 ballots in the largest county, and a handful elsewhere, remained to be counted as of Thursday night.
In another race, Democrat Elaine Bloom conceded to Representative E. Clay Shaw, a Republican, yesterday in a congressional race decided by fewer than 600 votes. A machine recount gave the 20-year congressman a 596-vote lead. Bloom, a state representative, asked for at least a partial hand recount in each of the district's three counties, but her requests were turned down.
In other close races:
Representative Rush Holt of New Jersey declared victory over Republican Dick Zimmer in a close congressional race. Zimmer, who at last unofficial count by the Associated Press trailed by 553 votes out of about 300,000 cast, has said he will seek a recount.
US Senator Slade Gorton of Washington, a Republican, widened his lead slightly over Democratic challenger Maria Cantwell, a former congresswoman, as votes were tallied in eight mostly rural counties. By early yesterday, Gorton led by 11,458 votes. Cantwell was pinning her hopes on 70,000 absentee ballots still uncounted in one heavily Democratic county.
