Bush has won re-relection: White House
Wednesday, 03 November , 2004, 17:10
Washington: George W Bush today appeared all set for a second term as US President after remaining locked in a bitterly-fought close elections with his Democratic rival John Kerry. But the final verdict hinges on the state of Ohio where the Democrats were planning a legal challenge.
George W Bush Republican 254 57,220,248 51.0
John Kerry Democrat 252 53,582,115 48.0
Ralph Nader Independent 0 376,728 0
The official result may not be out for another 10 days because of a delayed counting procedure in Ohio where Democrats want every vote to be counted.
Both sides are considering sending legal teams to the state, already the scene of lawsuits over provisional ballots.
With Kerry refusing to concede defeat, Bush, who won 28 of the 50 states for 254 electoral votes and was leading in three states, laid claim to the 20 votes of Ohio, which has emerged as this elections Florida, delaying the verdict because of provisional ballots.
Claiming victory in the elections, White House Chief of Staff Andy Card said the President has "statistically insurmountable" number of votes in Ohio and has won the re-election by a "decisive margin."
"We are convinced that President Bush has won re-election with at least 286 electoral college votes, and he also had a margin of a three-and-a-half million popular votes," he said.
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