SPLC Releases National Polling Finding Strong Support for Securing Right to Vote and Strengthening American Democracy

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Today, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released the results of a national poll of 1000 representative voters in the United States, conducted by Tulchin Research, finding widespread support for nationwide standards for voting as well as for passing federal legislation H.R. 1, the For the People Act, and making the U.S. Senate a majority-rule body. 

“The results of this nationwide poll don’t come as a surprise: Americans across all ideologies, parties, and regions of the country want to build a democracy that works for us all and allows every voter in the country safe, easy, and equitable access to their fundamental right to vote,” said Seth Levi, Chief Strategy Officer for the SPLC. “While certain politicians across the country and in Washington, DC, continue telling dangerous and deadly lies about elections to protect their own power, Americans recognize that we should be providing more ways to cast a ballot, not fewer, and adopting voting options and protections nationwide that already exist in many states. Americans want enough voting locations so they don’t wait in long lines, secure drop-boxes at every precinct, ample early voting opportunities, restoration of voting rights to their neighbors with felony convictions, and independent redistricting commissions. And finally, they want the U.S. Senate to operate as most people understand legislative bodies to work in a democracy: majority vote rules.”

The full memo from Tulchin Research is available here: https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/tulchin-final-memo_to-press.pdf

Among the poll’s findings:

1. Voters Utilized a Diverse Set of Voting Methods in 2020 
   • Voters reported their methods of casting ballots with:
     • 30% saying by mail 
     • 27% saying in-person on election day 
     • 26% saying in-person early before election day 
     • 10% saying by drop box
     •  8% saying in-person absentee voting before election day
2. Voters Strongly Prefer Maintaining their 2020 Voting Methods
   • 80% prefer to use their 2020 method of voting in future elections
3. Voters Strongly Support National Voting Standards and H.R. 1, or For the People Act, Reforms
   • 67% of voters support “enacting a federal law to establish nationwide baseline standards for voting registration and methods”
   • 67% of voters support H.R. 1, or the For the People Act, when it is described as having the aim to “create baseline national standards for voting access and fairness, to increase transparency and fairness in how Congressional and legislative district lines are drawn, report how sources of money in politics are reported, prevent foreign interference in our electoral process and strengthen government ethics rules.”
4. Voters Strongly Support Key Elements of H.R. 1, the For the People Act
   • 67% support guaranteeing voters in every state at least two weeks of early voting access
   • 69% support placing voter registration centers on high school and college campuses
   • 69% support preventing states from removing eligible registered voters from voting rolls
   • 70% support placing secure drop-boxes in every voting precinct
   • 82% support ensuring voting access to voters with disabilities
   • 85% support ensuring that there are enough voting locations so wait times never exceed 30 minutes
5. Voters Strongly Support Independent Redistricting Commissions
   • 72% support the statement that “our Congressional and legislative districts for elected office, including U.S. House and state legislative districts, should be determined by a local non-partisan, independent commission, not by the politicians representing these offices so they can draw lines that give them an advantage.”
6. Voters Support Restoring Voting Rights to People Who Complete Felony Sentences
   • 56% support restoring the voting rights “for people who have been convicted of a felony and served their time in prison.”
7. Voters Support Majority Rule for Passing Legislation in the United States Senate
   • 55% support the principle that “a simple majority of Senators should be required to pass any bill in the U.S. Senate.”