Public Agenda: Voters Had Positive Experience in 2008 Election, and Intend to Remain Active in Communities, Post- Election Survey Finds
NEW YORK-(Business Wire)-January 15, 2009 - Despite problems at the polls in 2000 and 2004, and fears that they would reoccur in the last election, the vast majority of Americans said they had a positive voting experience in 2008. Even more strikingly, citizens expressed strong enthusiasm about being engaged in their communities, according to a Public Agenda survey of voters conducted immediately following the presidential election.
“Given the historic nature of the recent presidential election, we thought that it would be enlightening to get a sense of what this civic experience meant for voters,” Ruth Wooden, president of Public Agenda, said. “Our Voter Experience Survey did exactly that, suggesting that Americans feel a strengthened sense of engagement with public life.”
The survey examined American voters' views about the voting process and how those experiences affect their role as citizens and their engagement in their communities. Many observers believe that a troubled election system can undermine voter turnout, views of electoral legitimacy, and civic participation in general. This survey, fielded in the weeks following the presidential election, attempted to see what kinds of reactions people had to the voting experience.
Stephen B. Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, said, "At a time when the President-elect is calling for 'active citizenship' to meet the challenges of the 21st century, we were especially heartened by the fact that Public Agenda's survey emphatically indicated that voters overall had a high level of engagement and are primed for further civic involvement."
Conducted by Public Agenda, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization devoted to public opinion and public policy, and funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the survey did reveal significant doubts about the legitimacy of the election system, even though most people say their own experience was positive.
The results of the survey are based on 1,485 telephone interviews conducted with a national random sample of adults aged 18 and older. It was conducted between November 5 and November 16. The margin of error for the overall sample is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
The complete survey results are available on http://www.publicagenda.org/reports/the-voting-experience
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