How many Americans are ‘voting against’ Trump and Harris? What a new poll found
When casting their ballots in the upcoming election, many Americans won’t so much be voting for a presidential candidate, but against one, according to new polling.
In the latest YouGov/Economist poll, 36% of registered voters who said they plan to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris said they are “mostly voting against (former President) Donald Trump.” Meanwhile, 61% said they are “mostly voting for” Harris.
Among registered voters who said they plan to vote for Trump, 26% said they are “mostly voting against” Harris, while 73% said they are “mostly voting for” Trump.
The poll, conducted between Sept. 8 and 10, sampled 1,626 U.S. adult citizens.
The results mark a dramatic decrease in the share of Democrat supporters who say they are mostly casting their ballots against Trump.
In a July poll — taken when President Joe Biden was still in the race — 61% of respondents who said they planned on voting for Biden were “mostly voting against” Trump. Just 38% said they were “mostly voting for” the president.
Meanwhile, 19% of respondents who said they planned to vote for Trump said they were “mostly voting against” Biden, while 80% said they were “mostly voting for” the former president.
Other findings
The latest poll found the presidential race — which is in its final stages — is neck-and-neck, with Harris and Trump tied at 45% support with registered voters.
Asked who they think will win the election, regardless of who they prefer, 38% said Harris and 37% said Trump. Twenty-five percent said they were not sure.
When asked about Harris’ ideology, 66% of respondents said she is liberal or very liberal. Roughly the same share, 63%, said Trump is conservative or very conservative.
A majority of respondents, 53%, said Trump was not honest and trustworthy, while 34% said he was. In contrast, 43% said Harris was not honest and trustworthy, while 39% said she was.
Respondents were also asked which issue — from a list of 15 — was important to them.
Twenty-three percent of respondents said inflation/prices, making it by far the most important issue. The second and third most important were jobs and the economy (12%) and immigration (10%).
The poll was released the day after the first presidential debate between Harris and Trump, which was hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10.
A plurality of respondents, 41%, said they expected Harris to be the winner, while 39% said they believed Trump would win.
This story was originally published September 11, 2024 at 1:49 PM with the headline "How many Americans are ‘voting against’ Trump and Harris? What a new poll found."