The polling provides just a slice of the tens of millions of people who have voted, both before and on Election Day

Exit poll shows democracy, economy most important issues

06 Nov 2024, 01:50 · RTE.ie

With the US election in full swing, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump vied for support from millions with national exit polls becoming increasingly important ahead of results especially in determining what were the major issues of the campaign and what demographics came out to vote.

The national exit-poll results provide an important window into the thinking of the nation, but may not directly align with the seven battleground states expected to decide the presidential election.

The polling provides just a slice of the tens of millions of people who have voted, both before and on Election Day, and the preliminary results are subject to change through the course of the night as more people are surveyed.

So what do we know so far?

The candidates

When it came to support for candidates, 44% of voters nationwide said they had a favorable view of Mr Trump, compared with 46% who said so in Edison Research's exit poll four years ago.

54% had viewed him unfavorably which was an increase from 52% in 2020.

For Ms Harris, there were 48% of voters nationwide who said they had a favorable view of the democrat, compared with 52% who said the same of the current US President Joe Biden in 2020.

Support for Donald Trump was down 2% from four years ago

50% viewed the US vice president unfavorably, compared with 46% who viewed Mr Biden that way ahead of the last election.

The issues

When it came to the most important issues for voters the biggest issues facing voters were the state of democracy and the economy

73% of voters nationwide said they think democracy in the US is threatened. 26% others said they felt democracy was secure ahead of the vote.

When it came to the economy, 31% of voters nationwide said the economy mattered most in deciding how to vote in the presidential election.

45% of voters said their family's financial situation was worse off than it was four years ago, compared with 20% who said so in 2020.

However, 24% did say they were better off than they were four years ago, compared with 41% four years ago.

11% of voters felt the border was the biggest issue of the campaign

The other major issues ahead of the election for voters were the issues of abortion at 14% and immigration at 11%.

The conflict in the Middle East was also an important and divisive issue for voters.

31% of voters said US support for Israel is too strong, 30% said it's not strong enough, and 31% said it's about right as it is.

Demographics

There were projected to be more female voters for this election with 53% of voters nationwide identifying as women, compared with 52% in 2020, while male voters were down 1% to 47% compared to those who turned out in 2020.

The turnout of white voters was up 4% compared to four years ago with 71% turning out nationwide.

34% of voters overall were white men, with 37% white women.

Turnout among black voters was down slightly to 11% this election. 5% of voters nationwide were black men and 7% overall were black women.

Hispanic voters were also lower with 12% turning out, compared with 13% in 2020.