Enthusiasm around voting has risen in recent weeks, with Democrats driving the surge, according to a new survey.
The Gallup poll, published Thursday, shows that 78 percent of Democrats or those who lean Democratic said they feel “more enthusiastic than usual about voting” compared to past elections. On the other side, 64 percent of Republicans or those who lean Republican said the same about the election, now just 68 days away.
A similar survey issued in March found that only 55 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of Republicans felt excited to vote in November, the pollster noted.
Just under 80 percent of survey respondents said they were given the election “quite a lot” of thought, surpassing the previous August record of 74 percent in 2008.
“Given that more Americans typically pay attention to the election closer to Election Day than do in August, 2024 is poised to establish a new high in election thought at the conclusion of the campaign,” pollsters wrote. “Currently, the 84% from 2004 is the highest Gallup has measured immediately before Election Day.”
Some of that energy on the left can be attributed to Vice President Harris’s rise to the top of the Democratic ticket over the last month, after President Biden stepped aside. Many Democrats see Harris has having a better chance to defeat former President Trump than Biden did.
The vice president has also been gaining in recent polls, with her opening up a 4.3 percent lead over Trump in an average of national polls from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, garnering 49.5 percent support to his 45.2 percent.
Overall, 69 percent of Americans said they feel more enthusiastic than usual about voting in 2024 versus past elections, per the survey. Only 23 percent said they feel “less enthusiastic.”
Harris and Trump are set to go head-to-head in an ABC News debate on Sept. 10. However, Trump has recently raised questions about if he will participate in the debate, but said he had “reached an agreement” on the details Tuesday.
The Gallup survey was conducted between Aug. 1-20, mostly before the Democratic National Convention, among 1,015 people. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
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