Until now the Kerry-Edwards campaign, which joined Cobb's efforts to press for a recount last week, had been insisting that it supported a new tally only to ensure the integrity of the election process.

But Cobb's comments on Monday suggest that the ultimate goal is far more ambitious.

"There's still tens of thousands of provisional ballots that are in dispute," he told ABC newsman Sam Donaldson. "There are 92,000 allegedly spoiled ballots that need to be counted. ... So there is a possibility that the [presidential] results will be changed."

When asked what the Green Party would do if a recount shows Kerry won Ohio but still lost the popular vote by more than 3 million votes, Cobb said it would be no different from the 2000 election, where Al Gore won the popular vote but Bush became president.

On Monday, Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell certified Bush as the winner based on official results from county election boards.

Bush's 118,775-vote lead was closer than unofficial election night results but not enough to trigger a mandatory recount.

The Electoral College will certify the national vote on Dec. 13.

Most election experts say the chance that a recount in Ohio could change the presidential results is a statistical impossibility.

Editor's note: