Florida officials to finish vote tally Thursday

The race for the presidency could be decided by the end of business Thursday, when county election supervisors in the decisive state of Florida have been instructed to finish tallying votes.

The recount was ordered because of the narrow lead held by Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush over Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore, according to network and wire reports.

Florida's 25 electoral votes will decide the election.

In the initial count, Bush led by about 1,800 votes. Campaign officials from both camps were descending on Florida to monitor the effort, which supervisors are free to begin today. However, other wild cards remain.

Florida officials also will have to incorporate international absentee ballots into the result. The ballots, which in the past have numbered more than 2,000, must be postmarked by Tuesday and are valid if received up to 10 days later.

And some residents of one Florida county said they may have inadvertently cast their votes for Reform Party nominee Pat Buchanan instead of Gore.