"You look at the polls now and the differences are minimal, so I don't think a change is likely," he said. Pineiro brought up the fact that in 1996, former Senator Bob Dole did extremely well in the absentee ballots even though he wasn't carrying the whole state. Because Republicans often do well with these absentee ballots, he said, Bush should have no problem maintaining his lead.

Ann Y. Lee '03, who said she cast her vote for Bush but also had reservations about him, aptly pointed out that tensions are bound to be high in an election as hotly contested as this.

"No matter who wins, about half of the people will be unhappy," she said.

In fact, some Harvard students expressed a fear that if Gore wins the popular vote but fails to capture the presidency, voters will grow even more disillusioned with American democracy.

"People may come to feel that their vote is worthless," Stad said.

On the other hand, such a result might also provide the impetus that would lead to the abolition of the Electoral College.

Alex I. Caloza '04 suggested that a new system be implemented: an Electoral College whose votes would be partitioned to reflect the popular vote.

"For example, in a state with four electoral votes, if Gore won 75 percent of the popular vote and Bush 25 percent, then three electoral votes would go to Gore and one to Bush," Caloza said.