See 2024 presidential vote results: Democracy, economy top issues

The percentages can change during the night.

Harris voters are more confident that the election will be conducted fairly than Trump voters

Early exit polls show that the state of democracy and the economy are the most important issues for 2024 voters.

The economy is the top question for Trump voters, followed by immigration. And democracy is the top concern for Harris voters, followed by abortion — which echoes some of the themes we’ve seen throughout the campaign.

Most people on each side are scared, not just worried, if the other side wins, and although most voters express confidence in this choice is conducted fairly and accurately, Harris voters are more confident than Trump voters are.

About 7 in 10 voters (majorities on both sides) expect there to be violence related to the results of the presidential election.

It is the first time in its history – dating back to the 1970s – that the exit poll has asked voters about the prospect of violence as it specifically relates to a US presidential election.

There is dissatisfaction with the state of the country – about 7 in 10 are dissatisfied or angry with the way things are going – something that has been the case for a long time. While this would not be a particularly favorable environment for an incumbent party, we saw a similar level of discontent during the 2022 midterms with a competitive race for control of Congress.

Voters’ views of the country’s economy are more negative than they were in 2020 – despite the fact that at the time the nation was in the throes of the COVID pandemic. Trump voters overwhelmingly view today’s economy as negative, while more Harris voters believe it is in good shape.

When asked whether you are better off than you were four years ago, nationally and across the battlegrounds, more voters say they are financially worse off than better off.

The issue of abortion and gender

This is the first US presidential election since Roe, and most voters want abortion mostly legal. We see this nationally and across the battleground states.

Although current exit polls show that abortion will not be a top issue for voters. Among women nationally, democracy and the economy trump the issue of abortion.

Candidate Qualities: What Were Voters Looking For?

The ability to lead was the quality voters looked for the most, followed by good judgment, someone who can bring about the needed change and someone who cares about them.

Most decided long ago, but a few decided too late

These early exit polls show that a large majority of voters decided their candidate long ago — about 8 in 10 before September.

A smaller number of voters made up their minds in the last week – currently in single digits. More of these voters identify as independent than with either political party. And they tend to be a bit younger than the general electorate.

They profile similarly to “infrequent voters” — those who didn’t vote in 2020. About 1 in 10 voters in this election report didn’t vote in 2020.

CBS News exit polls are surveys of thousands of voters across the country, including in-person interviews with Election Day voters, interviews with early voters at early voting locations and telephone interviews conducted to gauge the views of those who cast their ballots by mail. The studies were carried out by Edison Research on behalf of the National Electoral Pool.