US media organisations and other groups are determined to count disputed Florida presidential ballots, even if the US Supreme Court rules against their inclusion in the final vote tally for the state.
In accordance with a Florida law granting free access to public documents, the media groups - as well as a judicial watchdog group and several private citizens - requested access several days ago to some 14,000 ballots that were not counted as votes by voting machines in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
The Miami Herald, one of the newspapers requesting access to the ballots, said the unofficial count will be able to proceed only after the Electoral College has voted on December 18th.
Although this count cannot affect the final outcome of the election, it would have an important psychological and political impact, academics and journalists maintain.
Mark Seibel, editor in chief of the Miami Herald, said the recounts are of utmost necessity. "It may not make a difference in the presidency," he said, "but if all of these ballots are not looked at, there will always be a lingering question."
The electoral commission for Miami-Dade County, Florida's most populous county, has already received 16 requests for access to its ballots.
Joining the Miami Herald in requesting ballot access are three other Florida newspapers, as well as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the conservative legal watch-dog group Judicial Watch and several television networks.
Similar requests were made in Palm Beach County, another contentious county in the recount process in Florida.