POLLS SHOW DOLE SUPPORTERS NOT FAR FROM CENTER.

Byline: Richard L. Berke The New York Times

Despite warnings from conservatives that Sen. Bob Dole risks losing crucial support from the Republican coalition if he moves toward the center, surveys show that the nearly 12 million people who voted in Republican primaries this year are not particularly right-of-center on major social issues like abortion.

An analysis of surveys of voters in primaries in 28 states found that most do not think the Republican Party should retain a platform plank opposing abortion; Republicans are divided on the sensitive issue of cracking down on immigration, and most do not put the nation's moral troubles at the top of their list of factors in voting.

These findings, drawn from exit polls conducted by the four television networks and The Associated Press, suggest that Dole may not have as difficult a time as some Republicans have predicted in dealing with Pat Buchanan and other conservatives in the run-up to the party's national convention in San Diego in August. Many conservative leaders have warned in particular that Dole risks fracturing his support if he picks a running mate who supports abortion rights.

Dole gained enough delegates in the California primary Tuesday, when he passed the 996 mark, to win the nomination. Overall, he captured 6.6 million votes or 55 percent, while Buchanan drew 2.7 million or 22 percent. The magnitude of Dole's victories, and the willingness of religious conservatives to support him as the candidate most likely to prevail over President Clinton in November, also could make it easier for Dole to rally conservatives around his candidacy.

In a study of voting in the primaries, Curtis Gans, director of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, concluded that the limited scope of Buchanan's support means that while Dole ``will have to step carefully in the issue of reproductive rights,'' he ``need not pay unnecessary homage to Buchanan to unify his party.''

Dole supports a constitutional prohibition on abortion with exceptions for rape or incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. But he has been far less outspoken on the issue than Buchanan, who has threatened to take the matter to the party's convention.

Specifically, only 38 percent of all primary voters this year said the plank that calls for a constitutional ban on abortion should be part of the Republican platform. Among those voters who identified themselves as Republicans, 55 percent opposed the anti-abortion plank, while 43 percent favored it. But among a pivotal voting group in November - independents who voted in the Republican primaries - there was even less support for the plank: Fifty-three percent opposed the anti-abortion language, 25 percent favored it, and the remainder had no response.