ABC News Post-Election Poll #2, November 2000

This special topic poll, fielded November 16, 2000, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. This data collection focused on the presidential election that took place on November 7, 2000. The poll queried respondents about the situation in the country nine days after the election. Respondents were asked for their opinions on how Vice President Al Gore, Texas governor George W. Bush, and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris were handling the election situation, as well as whom they wanted to see become the next president. A major topic of the survey was the hand counting of ballots. Questions elicited respondents' views on whether the hand counts should be included in the Florida final vote total, how accurate hand and machine vote recounts were, and the extent to which the result with and without the hand recounts was acceptable to them. Respondents expressed their views about whether Al Gore should concede the election to George W. Bush in the event that Secretary of State Harris declared Bush the winner without including the hand recount, or if Gore should appeal to the courts. The survey also gathered respondents' opinions regarding whether they wanted to end the unclear situation quickly or give both campaigns a chance to make their full case in court, and how confident they were in the accuracy of Florida's recount. Background information on respondents includes age, gender, education, race, income range, party affiliation, political orientation, and voterregistration.