Sauls said he understood the time pressures behind Gore's request that county clerks or judges immediately get to work counting about 13,000 disputed ballots by hand in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

But he said he didn't believe a decision on whether there should be a hand recount at all was needed before Saturday, after election officials indicated that the counting process would take about five days.

Sauls said that if he decides to grant any recount, he wants it finished by Dec. 6 to give both sides enough time to appeal or contest it. That meant it was not absolutely necessary to start the recount before Saturday, Dec. 2, he said, and therefore he didn't need to decide before then.

The Presidential Election and Other Cool Facts

In the meantime, Sauls ordered county election officials to begin transporting the disputed ballots to Tallahassee so they will be ready if he orders a recount. He also scheduled a preliminary hearing for Thursday to examine the underlying legal questions at issue in Gore's motion.

Citing the Dec. 12 deadline by which Florida must choose its representatives in the Electoral College, Gore attorney David Boies said after the hearing that he might go to a Florida appeals court to try to get a count started immediately because otherwise it could not be finished in time.

Both presidential campaigns filed written arguments Tuesday outlining the cases they intend to make Friday when the court steps into the middle of a presidential election for the first time in American history.

Speaking to reporters in Washington before the hearing, Gore said his challenges must be resolved as soon as possible because the nation needs "to be able to say th

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