ALLAHASSEE - In a largely symbolic move, Attorney General Bob Butterworth of Florida, a Democrat, urged yesterday that the disallowed ballots of military personnel stationed overseas be counted in the state's close presidential contest.
''No man or woman in military service to this nation should have his or her vote rejected solely due to the absence of a postmark,'' Butterworth, a strong supporter of Vice President Al Gore, said in a letter to the state's 67 county election supervisors.
The voluntary legal advice carries more of a public relations impact than a practical one. Butterworth does not have the authority to order the counting of the more than 1,500 overseas ballots rejected because they did not have a proper postmark proving they were sent before Election Day.
The letters seek to take some heat off the Gore campaign, which had come under attack for demanding that ballots with incompletely punched holes be counted, while Florida election officials were rejecting some of the overseas ballots.
''To mishandle these ballots is a slap in the face to every individual who has ever worn the uniform of our nation and a travesty that the Veterans of Foreign Wars will not tolerate,'' John F. Gwizdak, commander in chief of the VFW, said in a statement.
The Gore campaign had no official role in rejecting the ballots. State law prevents the counting of mismarked or unmarked ballots, since it would be impossible to ascertain the ballots were truly sent by Americans abroad, and before the deadline.
Republicans used the issue to discredit the Gore campaign's efforts to recount ballots in heavily Democratic Florida counties. Former senator Robert Dole, who injured his right arm in combat, was among those criticizing the rejection of military ballots.
Several prominent Democrats, including Gore's running-mate, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, came out in favor of counting the overseas ballots, but the Gore campaign was still losing the public relations war on the issue.
The Democrats ''really got hammered hard, and, I think, unfairly,'' said Susan Low Bloch, a law professor at Georgetown University. ''There is a concern; you don't want people stuffing the ballot boxes after the election.''
The idea could work, as long as election officials had some way of making sure the ballots were indeed signed and sent in time, she said.
''It's consistent with the Democratic view that you want to try to figure out what the voters' intent is,'' she said.
In his letter, Butterworth supports the military vote while throwing the issue to the secretary of state, Katherine Harris. Harris's refusal to wait for manual recounts before certifying the state's vote is at the heart of the dispute that had both campaigns in the state Supreme Court yesterday.
The letter ''urges supervisors and canvassing boards to seek a clarifying opinion from the secretary of state if they have any questions on this matter after review of the authorities cited in this letter.''
The state does not plan to reconsider the issue, since the overseas ballots have already been counted and certified by county elections commissioners, said state Division of Elections Director Clay Roberts.
''The state canvassing commission is forbidden by law to look beyond those returns,'' Roberts told the Associated Press.
The campaign of George W. Bush contends that most overseas absentee votes would be from military personnel, who the GOP assumes would vote Republican. When absentee votes were counted, Bush gained 1,380 votes against Gore's 750, widening the lead for the Republicans. Another 1,500 or so were rejected; it is impossible to know whether these ballots were from US servicepeople or from civilian expatriates.
''We certainly believe they should count these ballots,'' said Bush campaign spokeswoman Mindy Tucker. ''I'm not sure that his opinion does anything to open up the process.''
Given the possibility that the tallies in several - or even all - Florida counties might change the numbers, the 1,500 ballots could make a critical difference, she said.
Counting the ballots would be ''a very dangerous move for the Democrats,'' said Heather Gerken, a law professor at Harvard. ''These extra overseas ballots could be enough to turn the tide for Bush.''
Gore has little choice but to back the idea anyway, she said.
''No one wants to win the election by disregarding the votes of members of the military,'' Gerken said.
