US Election: ‘Threat’ to democracy among top concerns of US voters, early trends show

Majority of Kamala Harris supporters were concerned over the state of democracy. Trump voters expressed concerns over the state of economy and immigration.

Among various issues like abortion, immigration and the economy dominating the United States presidential election discourse, surveys found that concerns over the state of American democracy remained one of the top concerns.

Supporters watch election results as they attend an election night event for US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris at Howard University in Washington, DC, on November 5, 2024.(AFP)

An exit poll by NBC News, Fox News, and CNN found that around 35% of Americans—both men and women—placed concerns about democracy as their top concern ahead of the election results.

In a survey of more than 115,000 voters nationwide by AP VoteCast, about half of voters cited the future of democracy as the most important concern. About two-thirds of Harris and about a third of Trump voters shared similar concerns. About 25% of Trump supporters surveyed said the assassination attempts against him were the most important factor in their vote.

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Concerns over the state of democracy date back to Trump's refusal to concede defeat in the 2020 Presidential elections and the attempt by a large mob of Trump's supporters to storm the US Capitol to stop Biden's certification of victory on Jan 6, 2021.

Trump continued to repeat allegations of voter fraud and organised rigging by the Democrats throughout his campaign. Trump even said two days before Election Day that he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after repeatedly promising retribution to his political enemies with a list in his hands.

Harris, in return, accused Trump of seeking “revenge” against his “enemies” and pitched herself as a leader promising generational change. She described the former president as a “fascist", while Trump labelled Harris a “fascist” and a “communist". He also told voters that the multiple criminal prosecutions against him prove that Democrats are the true “threat to democracy”.

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In a sign of a divided polity, many Harris supporters expressed concern over the fate of democracy as their top priority. In contrast, Trump's supporters were largely concerned about immigration and inflation.

The survey suggests that Harris's attempts to project Trump as “fascist” may have convinced her voter base. At the same time, the former president managed to drive through his promise of bringing back factory jobs with the help of greater tariffs and increasing domestic oil production to boost the economy and lower prices.

(With agency inputs)