The public is also reasonably confident that the outcome of the vote will be fair. Six in 10 (62%) of Americans say they are at least somewhat confident that the presidential candidate who actually received the most votes in Florida will ultimately be declared the winner, the NEWSWEEK poll shows.

But the country remains divided along partisan lines on the issue of hand recounts. Sixty-seven percent of Al Gore’s supporters generally feel that such counts are fair and accurate, while 72 percent of George W. Bush supporters say the method is less fair than a machine count. But if manual recounts are finally included in the vote totals, 58 percent of all adults-including 63 percent of Gore supporters and 54 percent of Bush supporters-say they should be done in all counties of the state, not just in some.

A 61-percent majority say Bush’s ability to be an effective national leader would not be seriously hurt if he wins Florida’s electoral vote because manual recounts are excluded. Similarly, a 56 percent majority says Gore’s ability to be an effective national leader would not be hurt if he becomes president after a lengthy legal battle, according to the NEWSWEEK poll.

Just 12 percent of those polled say the disputed election results are a crisis for the country, though 53 percent say the situation could develop into one if it drags on for several more weeks. But Americans are highly critical of the media’s coverage: Sixty seven percent of adults say the major broadcast TV networks have made the dispute seem more like a crisis than it actually is; 54 percent say the same for cable TV news operations and 49 percent say so for national newspapers and magazines.

While 40 percent of those surveyed say the legal issues in Florida should be resolved in state courts, 50 percent favor taking the dispute to the federal courts.

The NEWSWEEK poll, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, was conducted on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17. One thousand adults were interviewed by telephone. The margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points.