Percentages may change throughout the night.

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

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

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

Most on each side are scared, not just concerned, if the other side wins, and while most voters express confidence this election is being 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. 

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

There is discontent with the state of the country — roughly 7 in 10 are dissatisfied or angry about the way things are going — something that has long been the case. 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 nation’s economy are more negative than they were in 2020 — despite the nation being in the throes of the COVID pandemic at the time. Trump voters overwhelmingly view today’s economy as negative, while more Harris voters think it is in good shape.

On the question of 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.

The issue of abortion and gender

This is the first presidential election in post-Roe America and most voters want abortion mostly legal. We see this nationally and across the battleground states. 

Although current exit polls show that abortion does not rise to be a top issue for voters. Among women nationally, democracy and the economy do outrank the issue of abortion.

Candidate qualities: What were voters looking for?

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

Most made up their minds long ago, but a few decided late

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

A smaller number of voters decided in the last week — currently in the single digits. More of these voters identify as independent than with either political party. And they tend to be a bit younger than the electorate overall.

They profile similarly to “infrequent voters ” — those who did not vote in 2020. About 1 in 10 voters in this electorate report having not voted 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 phone interviews are conducted to measure the views of those who cast their votes by mail. The surveys were conducted by Edison Research on behalf of the National Election Pool.