7 in 10 say they’ve given a lot of thought to election: Gallup

Seven in 10 Americans say they have given “quite a lot” of thought to the upcoming presidential election, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.

The poll, conducted April 1-22, was conducted after former President Trump won enough delegates to be the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

The data shows attention is particularly high among Americans who identify with either of the major political parties, while political independents say they are less engaged. Eighty-four percent of Democrats, 78 percent of Republicans, and 61 percent of independents say they’ve given a lot of thought to the election.

When independents are grouped by partisan-leanings, 76 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they’ve given a lot of thought to the election, and 72 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents report giving it a lot of thought.

Gallup noted that political independents more often lean Republican than they do Democrat.

Gallup has asked respondents this question during various presidential cycles since 1952. Researchers noted the amount of thought Americans give to an election often correlates to the level of voter turnout.

The findings in the new survey could portend high turnout. The level of attention is similar to election readings at similar points in the 2008 and 2020 campaigns but higher than it was in the 2000, 2004 and 2012 campaigns. Data is not available from 2016.

The 2008 and 2020 elections had the highest voter turnout since 1968, Gallup noted.

Americans aged 18-29 was the only group in the new survey with fewer than half of respondents (49 percent) reporting giving a lot of thought to the election. Sixty-nine percent of people aged 30 to 49, 78 percent of people aged 50 to 64, and 82 percent of Americans 65 and older say they’ve given a lot of thought to the election.

The survey included interviews by telephone with 1,001 adults and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.