31.   But during two intense hearings in his courtroom Monday, he asked lawyers several pointed questions about the timing of manual recounts.

32.   But Gore aides said the vice president easily would have picked up that number if Miami-Dade had conducted a full manual recount.

33.   But he said that the local election boards had the authority to decide whether a manual recount should be done.

34.   But Harris subsequently declared on national television that she would not amend, on the basis of manual recounts, the returns she had previously certi- fied.

35.   But it found that even if the Supreme Court had not stepped in to block a statewide manual recount of the disputed votes, Bush would have won.

36.   But legal scholars laid out several scenarios Friday after the Florida Supreme Court ruling ordering immediate manual recounts of presidential ballots.

37.   But Republican officials with ties to the Bush campaign said they concluded that it was doubtful a manual recount in Duval would, on balance, help their candidate.

38.   But the addition of five days to the deadline did not provide enough time for Palm Beach or Miami-Dade counties to conduct a manual recount.

39.   But the court ruled that Harris could not certify the election until after it had heard arguments on whether manual recounts in three Florida counties were legal.

40.   But the Democrats were preoccupied elsewhere, particularly with their pursuit of manual recounts in several heavily Democratic counties.