The nonbinding poll, akin to Presidential "beauty contests" taken in a number of states, came at a gathering of party insiders at a Buffalo hotel.

With only a fraction of returns still unreported from caucuses around the state Thursday night, Mr. Bush had 1,341 votes in the nonbinding poll and undecided votes totaled 1,146.

'This Doesn't Mean Anything' Although party leaders dismissed the nonbinding poll as meaningless, four Democratic candidates sought today to win support.

President Zelaya was promoting a controversial nonbinding poll on whether to include a fourth ballot box in the November elections on convening a constitutional convention to rewrite the constitution.

(A nonbinding poll was conducted earlier this year to determine whether the question merited mention in the article's lead.)

Mr. Dole beat back his rivals in the nonbinding poll of 3,325 delegates at a state party convention in Orlando, Fla., on Saturday, capturing 33 percent of the vote.

This is never a big statewide story and the nonbinding poll has little significance.