Sixty percent in an ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll say Al Gore should concede the election and let Bush become president. Just 35 percent say Gore instead should ask the courts to review Florida’s vote count, as his lawyers have indicated he will do.
     Americans continue to divide evenly on which man they prefer to see take office. The difference is that 26 percent of Gore’s own supporters want him to give up the fight. Ninety-two percent of Bush’s supporters, naturally, also want Gore to concede.

Fair vs. Closure
While most want Gore to step aside, not all of them mean that as an endorsement of the Florida count. Fewer than half of Americans, 40 percent, say they want Gore to concede mainly because they think the vote count was fair. Seventeen percent want him to step aside mainly for another reason: because they “want this to be over with.”
     Indeed, the Florida count does not get a rousing vote of confidence. Most Americans, 56 percent, do express at least some confidence that the count was accurate. But only 27 percent are “very confident” in the accuracy of the Florida count; nearly as many, 21 percent, are not confident in it at all.
     As has been the case all along, partisan views divide the public very sharply. Among Bush supporters, 80 percent express at least some confidence in the Florida count. Among Gore supporters, this dives to 33 percent.

Some Wiggle Room for Gore?
Gore may have a little wiggle room in public opinion: A smallish majority, 53 percent, feels “strongly” that he should step aside. And six in 10 say they would accept him as legitimately elected if he ultimately were to emerge as president. But more — 76 percent — say they’d view Bush as legitimately elected.
     Whoever does win will have wounds to heal: Among Gore’s supporters, 53 percent say they’d consider Bush as legitimately elected — hardly a ringing endorsement. And among those who support Bush even fewer, just 37 percent, say they’d regard Gore as legitimate.

End It Quickly
Fifty-seven percent say it’s more important “for this to end quickly” than for each side to have the chance to make its full arguments in court, the same as it was in the last ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll, on Nov. 16. That’s a sign of fatigue, but also of partisanship. Eighty-three percent of Bush supporters want it to “end quickly.” That declines to 30 percent of Gore supporters.
     Not surprisingly, among those who want it to end quickly, 82 percent say Gore should concede. Among those who say it’s more important for the candidates to have their full say in court, just 29 percent want Gore to step aside.
     Most, 56 percent, also say it was right for Florida’s secretary of state to hold Palm Beach County to a 5 p.m. Sunday deadline for its vote count, rather than granting the extension to 9 a.m. Monday that the county had requested. Support for the secretary’s action soars to 78 percent among those who favor a quick end to the election saga, and to 89 percent of Bush supporters. Just 22 percent of Gore supporters approve of her decision.

Other Venues
The public divides on two other venues for this controversy. A majority, 58 percent, approves of the U.S. Supreme Court stepping into the matter by accepting the Bush campaign’s request that it review the Florida vote count. In this case, support is higher among Gore’s supporters than among Bush’s.
     At the same time, 59 percent say they would oppose the Florida legislature getting involved in determining the winner of the election there.

The Chad Question
The public divides on the question — crucial to the Gore campaign — of dimpled chads. Forty-five percent say these indented ballots should be counted as votes; 48 percent say they should not be counted.
     Again, as in so many of these views, partisanship plays a strong role. Among Gore’s supporters, 65 percent say dimpled chads should count as votes. But among those who back Bush, just 23 percent say the dimples should count.

Split Preferences
And the public’s basic preference? After all this, it’s still split as evenly as ever. Forty-three percent say they’d like to see Bush as president; 42 percent Gore. Someone has to win, but this election, for all intents and purposes, is still essentially a dead heat.

Methodology
This ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone Nov. 26, 2000, among a random national sample of 607 adults. The results have a four-point error margin. Field work by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Penn.

Previous ABCNEWS polls can be found in our Poll Vault.