“Democracy” was the top issue for voters in an exit poll of 2024 voters conducted for CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS on Tuesday — but did not appear in a Fox News exit poll, which said that the top issue for voters was the economy.
CNN and the three major broadcast networks share a common exit poll. NBC reported at roughly 5:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday:
Thirty-five percent of voters said democracy mattered most to their vote, while 31% said the economy. Abortion (14%) and immigration (11%) ranked as the next-most important issues, while just 4% named foreign policy.
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A majority of Harris voters prioritized the state of democracy. Abortion was the second-most important issue to Harris voters, with 2 in 10 of them saying it mattered most to their vote, followed by economy, foreign policy and immigration.
Half of Trump voters said the economy was the most important issue to their vote, followed by immigration (20%), democracy (12%), abortion (6%) and foreign policy (4%).
A Fox News exit poll, however, did not seem to register “democracy” as an issue or voters at all. The New York Post (which, like Fox News, is owned by News Corp), reported the early Fox News exit poll results: “When asked to give the most important issue facing the country, 39% said the economy or jobs, while 20% said immigration and just 11% said abortion.”
It is unclear why these surveys differed so widely, or whether the results on the “issues” question favor Harris or Trump.
It is thought that “democracy” is an issue that favors Democrats, since Vice President Kamala Harris has run on the idea that democracy is at stake in the election.
However, the Harris campaign also placed a priority on abortion, which did not seem to be nearly as important to voters in the exit poll.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
