In the escalating conflict over the US presidential election, Republicans were yesterday considering demanding recounts in enough close states to possibly push the Democratic candidate, Vice-President Al Gore, below an electoral college majority - even if he wins Florida.
Meanwhile a recount proceeded yesterday in New Mexico - a state presumed to have been won by Mr Gore - because of a computer glitch. Some 65,000 early and absentee ballots had to be counted by hand, a task that was not completed by late Thursday as expected.
One senior Republican operative, who asked not to be identified, said the Republican National Committee had dispatched aides to examine the possibility of recounts in Iowa and Wisconsin - in both of which Mr Gore now leads by narrow margins.
Republicans could also seek a recount in Oregon, he said, if Mr Gore holds the lead that he took there on Thursday.
Those warnings suggest that the struggle for Florida, which has centred on Democratic allegations that the Palm Beach County ballot was flawed, could prompt a cascading series of challenges across the country, all designed to prevent either side from claiming the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
"There are a number of ways for one side to challenge the results but the other side can do the same thing. This is not a unilateral process," said Mr Jan Witold Baran, a Washington election lawyer. "This has the potential for tit-for-tat and mutual assured destruction".
The senior Republican operative said that if the Democrats pressed the challenge in Florida too far, the result could be analogous to the first World War, when a local conflict in the Balkans eventually produced a continent-wide war.
"Once you start the process, the idea that it is going to stop in a couple of Democratic counties in Florida is ludicrous," the official said. "It is going to go on everywhere. You are sliding toward a very dangerous situation that is not going to be over in a week or two."
Indeed, in a year when the candidates finished less than five percentage points apart in 17 states, both sides have plenty of opportunities for further challenges. The New Hampshire Democratic Party chairwoman, Ms Kathleen Sullivan, acknowledged that she contacted the Secretary of State there on Wednesday to raise the possibility of a recount; Mr Bush won the state by less than 8,000 votes.
Ms Sullivan said the chance of the party demanding a recount was remote. But she said Democrats have not ruled it out; under New Hampshire law they have until Monday to request a new tally.
Both sides still are hesitant about initiating challenges in new states. Yet, at the same time, emotions clearly are rising.
Looming over all of this manoeuvring is the extraordinarily narrow electoral college margin between Mr Gore and Mr Bush.
If all the states now in each man's camp remained there, whoever wins Florida would exceed the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. But if a recount gave New Hampshire and its four electoral votes to Mr Gore, Mr Bush would be short even if he wins Florida (assuming Mr Gore really has Oregon). Conversely, if recounts denied Mr Gore the 25 electoral votes of Iowa, Wisconsin and Oregon, the Vice-President would fall just short of a majority even if he won Florida.
Both parties are mulling over their options with one eye on the legal system and the other on the court of public opinion.
