Vice President Al Gore should concede despite the narrow margin of his defeat.

Both Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush have been preparing for legal battles for the White House. As of Sunday’s 5 p.m. deadline, Bush’s lead was down to 491 votes - an amount larger than the 157 vote gain Gore had in Miami-Dade County before it canceled its recount.

It is reasonable for Gore to ask that those 157 votes be added to Miami-Dade’s official tally, which he plans to do. But since that would not put him above Bush, he should concede.

Gore also plans to contest results in Palm Beach County, which was unable to finish its recount by Sunday’s deadline.

Bush may challenge hand-count tallies even if he comes out ahead, charging that the Florida Supreme Court should never have given the go-ahead for further recounts after the initial results.

Despite the uncertainty about the accuracy of the results in Florida, Gore should acknowledge defeat. Gore understandably wants to become the country’s 43rd president. But by allowing the courts to decide the election’s outcome, the country’s trust in the election system will deteriorate even more than it has in the past two weeks.

But Gore’s lack of faith in previous election results in Florida is not unjustified - the entire country is skeptical about the accuracy of the state’s vote counts as well as the efficiency of election procedures around the country.

At this point, the winner of this election will be doubted no matter what further recounts or court cases reveal. The public’s perception of the legitimacy of the next president cannot be saved by continuing or discontinuing the recounts. The next president’s term will be tainted with the residue of this election.

The country must learn from Florida’s mistakes. The Sunshine State should have handled the election more effectively. The involvement of Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, Bush’s state campaign co-chair, allowed party politics to come into play when the closeness of this election did not leave any room for partisan influence.

Overseas ballots that were not accepted because of the absence of postmarks should have been counted as long as they were received within a reasonable amount of time after Election Day. Allowing more votes - especially those from men and women serving the United States - to be counted will increase the country’s satisfaction with the results.

All counties should have been allowed ample time to efficiently and accurately recount. Cautious recounts would also complete the finality of the results.

Although Florida had no way to be prepared for an election this close, it could have proceeded with recounts more precise by providing ample time for the process. Other states should learn from Florida’s mistake and make sure their election procedures could handle the close inspection that Florida’s have been under.

But despite the uncertainty of the results in Florida, Gore should concede if the results are not in his favor. Eventually one candidate will have to emerge from the recounts as the winner so the nation can finally move past this historic election.