61.   John Ahmann, the owner of a California elections supply company and a former voting-machine engineer with IBM, said hand counts are necessary.

62.   Meanwhile, California political insiders who have been engaged in the hand count in Florida describe a pitched battle.

63.   Meanwhile, Gore campaign officials demand hand counts in four counties.

64.   Mignone Green, a downtown clothing merchant, said a full hand count seems logical because machine recounts in several counties have spit out different results.

65.   Moreover, while Bush aides argued Saturday that hand counts are unreliable, Republicans have accepted them.

66.   Miami-Dade County may also jump into the presidential recount again Friday when its canvassing board reconsiders a Democratic request for a hand count of presidential ballots.

67.   Now that a more limited hand count is going forward, the Bush team is making wild, unsubstantiated allegations that the hand counters are engaged in fraud.

68.   Officials in Palm Beach said Thursday that they would conduct a hand count in three precincts on Saturday.

69.   On its face, it seems absurd to continue the hand counts and then exclude the results.

70.   Officials decided Tuesday to suspend until Wednesday the start of a hand count of all votes cast statewide that was meant to start Tuesday morning.