More voters say they are losing interest in the November election, according to a new poll.
An NBC News survey shows 64% of registered voters say they have a high level of interest in November’s election — but that figure is lower at this point in the year than any of the last four presidential cycles.
Interest was 13 points higher in 2020, five points higher in 2016, three points higher in 2012 and 10 points higher in 2008.
More Republicans, at 70%, say they have high interest in the election than Democrats at 65% and independents at 48%.
Only 36% of younger voters, between the ages of 18 and 34, would rate themselves as highly interested in the election.
Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, who conducted this survey with Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, told NBC News that young voters are “off-the-charts low” interest in the election.
The poll also found that former president Donald Trump only narrowly leads President Biden by two points, 46% to 44% in a head-to-head matchup, which is a five-point drop since January.
The two presumptive candidates for their respective parties are essentially tied among independent voters with Mr. Biden getting 36% and Mr. Trump getting 34%, and younger voters, with the president getting 44% and Mr. Trump getting 43%.
When it’s a hypothetical match-up between Mr. Biden, Mr. Trump, and independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Jill Stein and Cornel West, Mr. Biden leads the former president by two points — 39% to 37%.
Mr. Kennedy gets the most support out of the three independent candidates in that match-up with 13%, while Ms. Stein sees 3% and Mr. West sees 2%.
Mr. Trump polls strongest with men, White voters, and White voters without college degrees. Mr. Biden’s top supporters seem to be Black and Latino voters and women.
The poll was conducted April 12-16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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