Tue Dec 7, 1:21 AM ET
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - President Bush carried Ohio by 118,775 votes in last month's election, 17,708 fewer than reported at the time but not enough to change the outcome in the crucial state, officials said on Monday.
John Kerry conceded to Bush the day after the Nov. 2 balloting, saying an analysis showed he could not win Ohio, which provided Bush the final margin of victory and a second term.
Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell certified the outcome on Monday, based on a county-by-county canvass done under state law in the days since the election. It showed Bush with 2,858,727 or 50.82 percent to 2,739,952, or 48.7 percent, for the Democrat Kerry.
Legal challenges surrounding the vote in Ohio, however, were not over. Presidential candidates for the Green and Libertarian parties said they planned to ask Blackwell for a recount, and at least one other lawsuit challenging the voting procedures was still alive.
The election in Ohio was marked by long lines in some polling places and controversy over directives by Blackwell, a Republican, on how provisional ballots should be treated. Meanwhile the Democratic National Committee said it was launching a top-to-bottom review of the vote in Ohio, not to challenge the outcome but to correct possible problems for future elections.
The investigation will produce a report in several months showing "what happened and why," looking at such issues as undermanned polling places, people waiting in line for hours to vote and questions about provisional ballots, party chairman Terry McAuliffe told a briefing in Washington.
"We want an exact analysis of what went on in the voting on Ohio" regardless of what it costs to produce it, he added.
He said Kerry "feel very comfortable" about his decision not to challenge the outcome in Ohio. "We know we are not going to overturn the election," McAuliffe said.
Back to Recount on the Web site Border States of America.