21.   On Tuesday night, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the state must include votes being counted by hand in three heavily Democratic counties.

22.   Owens held out hope that ballots from the Indian reservations and largely Democratic rural counties would be enough to pull him over the top.

23.   Peterson, who lives in Palm Beach County, did vote for Gore, as did most people are in this strongly Democratic county.

24.   Q. Why are the recounts only going on in Democratic counties?

25.   Spokesmen for Vice President Al Gore express concern about possible disenfranchisement in heavily Democratic counties but not in heavily Republican counties.

26.   That is why there have already been partial or complete hand counts not just in two Democratic counties in Florida, but in six Republican counties as well.

27.   That tally would be expected to yield more votes for the vice president than Bush in the heavily Democratic county.

28.   The Bush campaign, meanwhile, could file its own counter-lawsuit, contesting results in heavily Democratic counties.

29.   The court allowed manual recounts to continue in Democratic counties, and without saying so explicitly, it strongly hinted that dimpled ballots should be part of the count.

30.   The decision was a significant blow to Vice President Al Gore, whose candidacy was expected to benefit most from the recount in the heavily Democratic county.