Not only is Americans' apparent composure due to their optimism that the situation will be resolved soon, but they also feel that a President who lost the popular vote could govern. Seven out of ten think that a President who won only the Electoral College and not the popular vote could lead the country effectively. Despite Florida's growing vote count problems, few voters think their vote may have been counted incorrectly. More than two-thirds of voters have a lot of confidence that their vote was counted properly, and another 21 percent are somewhat confident. However, there are greater doubts among some voters than others.
Women are less likely than men to have complete confidence their vote was counted properly.
Voters in suburbs have less confidence than voters in big cities, while black voters are more dubious than white voters. And, perhaps because of the specific questions raised by the Florida count, Gore voters are 15 points less likely than Bush voters to have a lot of confidence their vote was counted properly. When it comes to what should be done about the specific problems in Palm Beach County, Americans divide in favor of letting the results stand. 46 percent of Americans think the County should hold a re-vote because too many votes were disqualified, while 51 percent think that voters have to be responsible for their own mistakes and that the results should therefore stand. Although a bare majority would not permit Palm Beach County voters to vote over, there is a certain amount of regret on the part of many who didn't get to the polls on Election Day themselves.