Americans will go to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the historic election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Polls conducted before Election Day found the two candidates ahead nationally and in several swing states.
Widespread economic discontent, sharp divisions over the nation’s future and polarized views of major-party candidates mark voter attitudes nationwide in preliminary ABC News poll results.
The state of democracy narrowly dominated the exit polls as the most important issue for the five voters tested.
People and democracy
Voters generally express more positive than negative views about the direction of the country: just 26% are enthusiastic or satisfied with the way things are going, and 72% are dissatisfied or angry.
More voters see American democracy as threatened than say it is safe, 73% to 25%. However, in these preliminary poll results, about 6 in 10 say the country’s best days are ahead, with a third saying the country’s best days are in the past.
Extremism and favoritism of candidates
Fifty-five percent call Trump’s views “too extreme,” and he is submerged in personal favorability, 44%-55%. Fewer call Harris’s views too extreme (46%), though he’s dipped in personal favorability, if only slightly, at 48%-50%.
Favorability is inconclusive: just 40% saw Trump in 2016, when he won the Electoral College (though not the popular vote). One reason is that almost a minority, 43%, had a favorable opinion of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, that year. (In 2020, Trump’s approval rating was 46%; Joe Biden’s was 52%).
Underscoring the emotion associated with the contests, 36% of early voters said they would be “scared” if Trump were elected, compared to 29% if Harris won.
In terms of personal attributes, in the preliminary results voters choose the ability to rank first among the four tested in the exit poll.
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) attends a panel discussion hosted by Building America’s Future on October 29, 2024 in Drexel Hill, Penn. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (R) speaks at a campaign rally on November 2, 2024 in Charlotte.
Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
Economy and Biden
The economy remains a key irritant. Voters 67%-32% say the situation is bad. And 45% say their financial situation is worse now than four years ago, 30% the same, and 24% doing better. The number of “worse” surpasses the level of 2008, then 42%, and greatly exceeds in 2020 (20%) and 2016 (28%).
Biden takes the heat, with a 41% job approval rating (58% disapprove). It has been a challenge for Harris to convince voters that he is taking a new direction from Biden. (Biden’s approval rating is the lowest for a sitting president in exit polls since George W. Bush left office in 2008. Trump managed a 50% job approval rating in 2020, but Biden still beat him.)
Main issues
The state of democracy narrowly dominates the most important issue for the five voters tested in the exit polls. 35% of voters considered the main issue, 31% the economy, 14% abortion, 11% immigration and 4% foreign policy.
Abortion highlights the importance in women, 19% in the preliminary results, and 8% among men, rising to 42% among women under 30 years of age. (Women are 53% of all voters, in advance; men, 47%).
Trump is more trusted than Harris on immigration and the economy, according to preliminary exit polls, Harris leads Trump in trust on abortion.
Overall, 66 percent said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, a central focus of Harris’ campaign. (Support for legal abortion hit an exit poll low of 51% in 2020; the previous peak was 63% in 1992).
On immigration, Trump’s main focus, 39% say most undocumented immigrants should be deported, up from 26% in 2016 and 28% in 2012. 57 percent say that undocumented immigrants should be offered the opportunity to apply for legal status.
