Judges and lawyers examine ballots cast in a hotly contested "presidential" election in Taoyuan on May 10, 2004, the first day of a recount to resolve a bitter political dispute that has sparked violent street protests and paralysed policymaking on the island. The legal process is estimated to take at least 10 days. (China Daily/Reuters)

An election worker counts ballots cast in a hotly contested election in Taoyuan on May 10, 2004, the first day of a recount to resolve a bitter political dispute that has sparked violent street protests and paralyzed policymaking on the island. (China Daily/Reuters)

Workers transport boxes of sealed ballots of the disputed March 20 election to a courthouse in Taipei May 9, 2004, on the eve of an island-wide vote recount. Chen Shui-bian's razor-thin election victory is being contested by opposition candidate Lien Chan who has filed two lawsuits with the "High Court", with one seeking to nullify Chen's narrow win and another seeking to invalidate the entire election.(China Daily/Reuters)

An armed policeman stands guard next to an administative building in which ballots of the March 20 election are stored, awaiting a recount, Sunday, May 9, 2004. (China Daily/AP)