In a surprise move last night, Vice President Al Gore has offered his opponent, Governor George Bush a hand recount for the whole of Florida. He pledged to abide by the result and drop all legal actions.
Mr Gore speaking from the Vice-Presidential mansion in Washington with his running mate, Senator Joseph Lieberman at his side, also proposed to meet Mr Bush before the recount is finished "not to negotiate but to improve the tone of our dialogue in America".
Mr Gore's offer came several hours after the Florida Supreme Court rejected a request by the Secretary of State, Ms Katherine Harris, to delay any hand counts that were going on pending a decision on their legitimacy. Mr Bush had supported this request.
This decision was seen as a boost for Mr Gore who is hoping to pick up enough votes from the recounts in four mainly Democratic counties to overtake Mr Bush who is only 300 votes ahead in the partial results announced on Monday.
Whichever candidate wins in Florida, which has 25 Electoral College votes will win the Presidency. But the situation in Florida has become extremely confused between partial recounts and a barrage of lawsuits to various courts. Ms Harris has said she wants to announce a definitive result next Saturday when remaining overseas ballots are counted.
Mr Gore in his address defended the hand counts that are going on but acknowledged that there is concern in the country over how the situation is evolving. "We need a resolution that is fair and final. We need to move expeditiously to the most complete and accurate count that is possible."
He made several proposals. The first one which is his preference would be to complete the hand counts under way in the four counties and add the result to the existing one and the overseas results.
"I will abide by that result and take no legal action to challenge that result."
But if Mr Bush preferred to have a hand count in all 67 Florida counties, he would also abide by that result, Mr Gore said. He believed such a count could be done in seven days. There was no immediate response from the Bush campaign to these proposals.
Mr Gore said he and Mr Bush should meet as soon as possible before these counts are finished "not to negotiate but to improve the tone of our dialogue in America".
Both candidates should "call on all our supporters to respect the outcome of this election whatever it is and call on them to close ranks with all Americans and unite the country behind the winner whoever he may be".
A Palm Beach court yesterday added to the sense of chaos surrounding the Florida election by ruling that "pregnant" ballot papers with "dimples" or bulges but not punched through may be counted at the discretion of the local officials. Up to now such ballots were regarded as invalid.
It is estimated that about 2,000 overseas ballots have been returned and not yet tallied. About 12,500 have been returned and counted according to a survey by the St Petersbug Times.
The appeal to the Supreme Court by Ms Harris was viewed with suspicion by the Gore campaign which regards Ms Harris as a dyed-in-the-wool Republican who is biased in favour of Mr Bush for whom she campaigned in the election.
But there was joy in the Gore camp when the Supreme Court rejected both requests from Ms Harris and so allowed the hand counts to continue in several counties.
In a dramatic announcement early this morning Irish time, the Florida secretary of state, Ms Katherine Harris, said she would not accept the results of hand recounts in the presidential election in Florida. This would mean that Mr Bush could be declared the winner in Florida, as he leads by 300 votes.