On the domestic front, Bush says his plans to overhaul the tax laws would be "revenue-neutral" and would not cut taxes. Throughout the past year, however, he has urged Congress to make earlier tax cuts permanent.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office now sees $2.3 trillion in accumulated deficits over the next 10 years. That does not include the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Given the choice between balancing the budget and cutting taxes, voters chose balancing the budget by 66 percent to 31 percent. Just over half of Republicans as well as most Democrats and independents felt that way.

When the choice is between balancing the budget and spending more on education, health care and economic development, voters were divided. Slightly more wanted the additional domestic spending, 55 percent, than chose balancing the budget, 44 percent.

During his second term, Bush is likely to have an opening on the Supreme Court; Chief Justice William Rehnquist is seriously ill with cancer.

Six in 10 voters say they are comfortable that the president will nominate the right kind of person to serve on the court. Bush has sidestepped questions about who he would name if there were an opening.

But three-fourths of Democrats are uncomfortable with a potential Bush nomination to the high court.

"I'm very worried," said Carla Matlin, a Democrat and a marketing manager from the San Francisco area. "I'm afraid that, rather than mainstream judges, Bush will appoint judges that are way over on the right."

Asked whether Bush should appoint a justice who would uphold or overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that protected a woman's right to abortions, six in 10 said they want a justice who will uphold the landmark ruling.

Voters seem generally accepting of the election.

A majority, 54 percent, said the election results improved their confidence in the electoral system. Six in 10, including one-third of Democrats, said they felt "hopeful" after the election.

But more than eight in 10 Democrats, 84 percent, acknowledged their disappointment about the election results.

The AP-Ipsos poll of 844 registered voters was taken Nov. 3-5 and has a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points.