SALEM, Ore. — Looking to the remote possibility of a recount, Republicans started asking questions Monday about the conduct of Oregon's presidential election.
In a letter to Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, the Bush-Cheney campaign asked for more information on the number of people who were allowed to reregister and receive mail ballots right before the election. It's not uncommon for voters to reregister when they change addresses.
A spokeswoman for the campaign, Leslie Goodman, said Bush supporters were not asserting any wrongdoing in Oregon's election.
But she also declined to rule out a possible legal challenge.
"It would be premature to comment on any future action," Goodman said.
Al Gore's victory margin over Bush in Oregon on Monday remained well over the threshold for an automatic recount, as election workers neared completion of counting the last ballots.
Unofficial results from last Tuesday's election gave 706,163 votes to Gore and 701,398 to Bush — a margin of 4,765. An automatic recount would be triggered if the margin is less than one-fifth of 1 percent, or about 2,800 votes.
If Bush loses the recount in Florida, the GOP could conceivably try to win the needed 270 electoral votes by challenging the vote in states where the race is close — like Oregon.
The Bush campaign last week expressed concern about what appeared to be a large number of voters who showed up at election offices in Lane, Multnomah and Washington counties last Tuesday seeking to update their voter registration and receive last-day ballots.
"That's an area that we are looking into. We are seeking clarification from the secretary of state's office on procedures that were undertaken," Goodman said of the Bush campaign's letter of inquiry to Bradbury.
Bradbury's chief of staff, Paddy McGuire, said that while the voter registration cutoff is Oct. 17, the law does allow, in certain circumstances, registered voters to reregister at a different location and receive a ballot after that date.
McGuire said the state had heard no reports of irregularities.
"To my knowledge, there have been no specific complaints filed with the state Elections Division," McGuire said.
Oregon Republican Party Chairman Perry Atkinson complained Monday about remarks made by McGuire in an Associated Press story about Gore winning Oregon's election last week.
Last Friday, McGuire told The AP that Gore asked him during a telephone conversation how the vote in Oregon was going and that he replied: "Well, Mr. Vice President, I think we're going to pull it out for you."
Atkinson said the remark called into question the impartiality with which McGuire and his boss — the Democratic secretary of state — were conducting the election. McGuire rejected that allegation, noting that county clerks — not the secretary of state's office — are the ones who tabulate votes.
McGuire also contended Monday that he was misquoted by The AP. He said Gore had made the telephone call to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, not to himself. McGuire said Wyden used a second telephone to call him at home, with Gore still on the line. McGuire said the Democratic senator told him Gore was asking how the vote was going in Oregon, and McGuire said to Wyden: "Tell him I think he's going to pull it out."