Democratic presidential hopeful Al Gore's campaign will challenge a decision by a Florida official to set a Tuesday deadline for certification of ballot results in the key state, Gore spokesman Warren Christopher said.
Christopher, emerging from a meeting here with Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, said the official had declined to change her plans to certify votes from the state's 67 counties by 5:00 pm (2200 GMT) Tuesday, regardless of the status of a manual recount.
"We regard the action of the secretary of state to be arbitrary and unreasonable, and seeks to nullify (and) frustrate the whole hand-count vote provided by statute," Christopher told reporters here.
"This action by the secretary of state will be tested in court in the very near future," he added.
Christopher added that Harris "is a longstanding supporter" of Republican Governor George W. Bush, "and I think her statement has to be taken in that context" -- TALLAHASSEE (AFP)
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