Huckabee protests caucus vote

Washington: Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Monday challenged the results of his party's weekend caucus in Washington state, where he ran a close second to likely Republican nominee John McCain.

The Huckabee campaign said it was exploring all available legal options to ensure a full accounting of the Saturday vote after "dubious final results". Lawyers for the campaign arrived in Washington on Sunday evening.

"We want a fair election up there, and we're just not sure we had one," Huckabee said in an interview on NBC's Today Show.

He said Republican party officials stopped counting with only 87 per cent of the vote in.