Ultimately, industry officials said, the most precise way to count ballots is by hand.

They also demanded that election officials begin at once to count ballots in constituencies where no problems were reported.

But enraged Republicans say they were counting clearly illegal ballots.

They also say that computer system used to count ballots may be programmed with predetermined results.

The board had first ruled it would count only ballots in which two sides of a chad were hanging.

They litter the floor when officials are counting ballots.

In remote areas, many were said to be counting ballots by candlelight.

More than 30 states do not count provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct.

California officials who counted ballots said that 16,250 workers had voted for the union and 1,925 against it.

Ohio was reporting its results, but had not counted provisional ballots.