More Americans want Gore to quit race

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, DEC. 4. Most Americans say the U.S. presidential election in Florida must have a fair and accurate end. They also say that not all the six million ballots in the Sunshine State should be manually counted.

According to a latest ABC News/Washington Post survey, Americans are split 52 per cent to 46 per cent against handcounting all votes. Significantly, 57 per cent of those polled said the Vice- President, Mr. Al Gore, should concede and allow the Texas Governor, Mr. George W. Bush set up his administration. The people, by a 2 to 1 margin, say they disapprove of the way the Gore campaign has been handling the post-election controversy; and about one half agree with the Bush campaign's handling.

About 56 per cent of those surveyed said they disapproved of the Florida State Legislature getting involved in choosing the electors while about the same number said they did not want Congress to be involved either.

Opinion polls taken after the start of the legal battles have more or less been ``steady'' - they have not rapidly tilted for or against any one candidate. The percentage of Americans wanting Mr. Gore to quit - 57 per cent - has been holding in the two polls done by ABC News/Washington Post. Generally, the spread has been anywhere between 52 and 60 per cent of the people wanting Mr. Gore to drop out. What is evident is that the numbers for both Mr.Gore and Mr. Bush are on solid party lines - this is good news for the Vice-President who needs the core of the Democratic party supporters behind him. The Texas Governor's backers are also squarely behind him.

A majority of the people are calling for the Vice- President to accept defeat. At the same time there is a conviction that if there is a selective manual re-count, it would put Mr. Gore on top. In the midst of all the legal fighting on what ballots should or should not be counted and how they are to be tallied, a majority of the people polled have taken the position that indented or partially perforated ballots should not be taken into account.

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Section  : International
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