71.   Because state law allows the public to look at ballots but not touch them, county election workers held the cards.

72.   County election officials planned to work Thanksgiving Day to meet the Sunday deadline.

73.   County election authorities stopped short of making the figures official pending a meeting on Monday.

74.   County election workers were scheduled to begin counting ballots by hand on Saturday.

75.   County elections officials declined immediate comment Wednesday.

76.   County election employees handled the ballots.

77.   County election officials will meet again Monday to discuss further action.

78.   County elections supervisor Jane Carroll, a Republican, voted against it.

79.   Democrats seized on that passage as evidence that county elections officials can use wide discretion to approve ballots.

80.   He said the county election boards and the Gore campaign would appeal promptly.