Over half of Americans ‘enthusiastic’ about voting in 2024: poll
- 54% of people said in new Gallup poll they're enthusiastic about voting
- People's enthusiasm rises as it gets closer to general election
- Democrats' net enthusiasm trails Republicans by 11 points: Gallup
FILE – In this combination of photos, President Joe Biden, left, speaks on Aug. 10, 2023, in Salt Lake City, and former President Donald Trump speaks on June 13, 2023, in Bedminster, N.J. The sequel to the 2020 election is officially set as the president and his immediate predecessor secured their parties’ nominations. Biden and Trump have set up a political movie the country has seen before — even if the last version was in black and white. (AP Photo, File)
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(NewsNation) — More than half, or 54%, of Americans in a recent Gallup poll say they are enthusiastic about voting in 2024.
That’s more enthusiasm than people showed in 2000, 2012 and 2016, but less than in the 2020, 2008 and 2004 presidential primary seasons.
Those with strong feelings about current President Joe Biden, a Democrat, or his challenger, former Republican president Donald Trump, are more enthusiastic about voting than usual, Gallup found. However, only 24% of those who say neither candidate would be good reported feeling enthusiastic about voting.
As a whole, Americans become more excited about voting by the time the general presidential election, set this year for Nov. 5, rolls around. The percentage of people who say they’re “more enthusiastic” typically reaches close to 65% in late October or early November, although this wasn’t the case in 2016, which was a race between two “historically unpopular” nominees: Trump and Hillary Clinton, Gallup wrote.
The party with a higher “net enthusiasm score” at the end of a presidential campaign season usually wins, however Gallup notes that this is likely because people’s excitement to vote for a particular candidate is closely tied to how they are already doing in the pre-election polls.
“Whether Americans’ enthusiasm for voting is high or low matters less to presidential election outcomes than which party expresses greater enthusiasm at the end of the campaign,” Gallup said. “That remains to be seen.”
Seven months ahead of the general election, 55% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans say they are “more enthusiastic” about voting this year than in previous elections. As 42% of Democrats and 35% of Republicans say they are less enthused to vote, Democrats’ net enthusiasm trails GOP voters’ by 11 points, Gallup wrote.
Still, neither group is as happy to vote as they were at this time four years ago when Biden first secured the Democratic nomination in 2020.
