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Anxiety over electoral system grows

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December 12, 2000 

WASHINGTON-- (UNB/AP) - Nearly half of Americans think there are serious flaws in the nation's electoral system, a new poll suggests. The concern reaches deep into Democrats, Republicans and independents.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll, released early Monday, showed 49 percent of Americans see "serious problems in this country's system of electing a president," up from 32 percent a month ago. Fifty percent of Democrats, 43 percent of Republicans and 52 percent of independents polled say there are considerable problems.

The results show one of the longer-lasting effects of the contested election, due for a showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court Monday morning. Republican George W. Bush has appealed to the high court to overturn a decision by the Florida Supreme Court allowing manual recounts to continue in the disputed presidential election.

Democrat Al Gore had sought the completion of a manual recount he believes could alter the outcome of the Florida election, where Bush is currently ahead by less than 200 votes out of 6 million cast.

Both the ABC poll and a CNN-USA Yesterday-Gallup poll out Sunday showed an almost even split on whether the U.S. Supreme Court should allow the manual recounts to continue. And most people think the high court will be fair in deciding the case of the unsettled election.

The CNN-USA Yesterday-Gallup poll out Sunday showed that about three-fourths of Americans think the high court will be fair. Asked which institution they most trust to decide the case, a majority, 61 percent, said the U.S. Supreme Court, 17 percent said Congress, 9 percent said the Supreme Court of Florida and 7 percent said the Florida Legislature.

In the ABC News/Washington Post poll, 53 percent say the hand recount should go forward after Monday's U.S. Supreme Court hearing, compared with 43 percent who said it should stop. Similar numbers - 51 to 48 percent - disagreed with the high court's ruling on Saturday that stopped the Florida count.

Still, 66 percent were confident the high court would make a fair ruling, compared with 32 percent who said they were not.

Also, 54 percent said they disapproved of Congress attempting to determine the winner of the election in Florida, compared with 40 percent approving; and 62 percent disapproved of the Florida Legislature attempting to resolve the election, compared with 33 percent approving.

But in the CNN poll, almost half of the respondents approved of the Florida Legislature picking a slate of 25 electors for George W. Bush, while four in 10 disapproved.

That poll also found that almost half, 46 percent, think the unsettled election is a major problem, but only 17 percent think it is a constitutional crisis.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll of 605 adults was taken Sunday and has an error margin of 4 percentage points.

The CNN-USA Yesterday-Gallup poll of 735 adults was taken Sunday and has an error margin of 4 percentage points.