What a new NC poll says about voters’ views on the economy, abortion and trust in elections

A new Elon University poll looks at what North Carolina voters care about, focusing its questions largely on abortion, the economy and voter confidence in the election process.

These topics have been at the forefront of many people’s minds this year, and their views may reflect how they cast their ballots for this midterm election, just five days away.

Here are some of the key findings from the poll.

ECONOMY

North Carolinians have a largely negative outlook on the economy. According to the poll, slightly over half of the people polled rated the national economy with a “D” or an “F.”

More than 75% also said the economy had gotten worse since 2020.

Negative views of the economy on President Joe Biden’s watch could hurt Democrats’ chances in the midterms.

In an earlier Elon Poll, conducted in February 2020:

• 19% of voters gave the economy an “A,” compared to 3% now.

• 33% in February 2020 gave the economy a “B” compared to just 12% now.

• 5% of voters in February 2020 gave the economy an “F” compared to 25% now.

People also said they were doing financially worse, with 55% saying they are doing worse since 2020 and only 14% saying they’re doing better. In February 2020, 42% said their financial situation had gotten better since 2017 while 20% said it had gotten worse and 37% said it had remained the same.

The poll also found a party-line split. Republicans were more pessimistic, with 73% rating the economy a “D” or an “F” compared to 33% of Democrats. More Republicans also viewed the economy as having worsened since 2020 and were more likely to say that inflation has had a very negative impact on them and their families.

The poll also showed that 82% of people say they have been negatively impacted by inflation during the past six months and that the majority blamed the Biden administration.

ABORTION

In June, the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — which granted the constitutional right to an abortion. Authority has now been thrown back to the states. In North Carolina, top legislators have indicated they’d be interested in enacting new abortion laws, largely centered on limiting the timeline for abortions without a total ban, The News & Observer previously reported.

The poll found that 53% of people polled would be “somewhat” or “extremely” dissatisfied if abortion were to be banned in NC. The poll found party-line differences, with 48% of Democratic voters, 41% of the unaffiliated and 13% of Republicans saying they would be “extremely” dissatisfied.

By contrast, 31% of Republicans, 10% of Democratic voters and 11% of unaffiliated voters said they would be “extremely” satisfied with a ban.

The poll also found some people followed abortion news: 44% followed coverage on new or changing abortion restrictions “fairly closely” and 28% followed news “very closely.” Two-thirds said they expected the decision to leave abortion restrictions up to the states would have little impact on them or their families.

Republicans were more likely than Democrats to reply that any action by the state to enact more restrictions would have no impact on them and that leaving abortion restriction up to the states would “neither positively or negatively” affect them.

Trust in elections

The poll found that confidence in the election process had grown in comparison to other years but remained low: 30% of people said they are “very” confident that the election process overall will be fair, compared to 24% in 2020. Meanwhile, 34% said they are “very” confident that votes will be counted properly this November compared to 24% in 2020.

Once more, there was a party-line split: 45% of Democrats and just 14% of Republicans said they are “very” confident that the election process will be fair. Meanwhile, 23% of Republicans and just 6% of Democrats said they are “not at all” confident.

Democrats were also more confident votes would be counted properly, and Republicans were more concerned about ballots being cast by those who are ineligible to vote.

Though less than in 2020 (74%), more than half of respondents expect violence to follow the election.

Democrats were more likely to trust media coverage on candidates, regardless of party, while Republicans trusted media coverage on Democratic candidates more than coverage of Republican candidates.

The poll surveyed more than 1,200 N.C. voters and was conducted Oct. 26 and 27. It also asked questions on climate change, race relations, oil, gas and energy, gun control and crime.

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