Striking findings from 2021
As 2021 draws to a close, here are some of Pew Research Center’s most striking research findings from the past year.
Voters & Voting
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Voters & Voting
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Wide partisan divide on whether voting is a fundamental right or a privilege with responsibilities
57% of Americans view voting as “a fundamental right for every adult U.S. citizen and should not be restricted in any way.”
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Q&A: A conversation about U.S. election polling problems in 2020
Here, we discuss the findings of a comprehensive report about the polling errors of 2020 and their implications for polling.
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More U.S. locations experimenting with alternative voting systems
We identified 261 U.S. jurisdictions that have adopted some voting method other than the winner-take-all system most American voters know.
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Many Western Europeans think mandatory voting is important, but Americans are split
Around two-thirds of adults in Germany, France and the UK say it is important for their national government to make voting compulsory.
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Republicans and Democrats Move Further Apart in Views of Voting Access
Among Republicans, support has declined for allowing early or absentee voting without an excuse and for automatically registering all eligible citizens to vote.
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Share of Republicans saying ‘everything possible’ should be done to make voting easy declines sharply
An 85% majority of Democrats say everything possible should be done to make voting easy; 28% of Republicans say this.
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Most U.S. citizens report a campaign contacted them in 2020, but Latinos and Asians less likely to say so
White eligible voters were somewhat more likely to say they were contacted than Black, Hispanic or English-speaking Asian eligible voters.
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Turnout soared in 2020 as nearly two-thirds of eligible U.S. voters cast ballots for president
Americans voted in record numbers in last year’s presidential election, casting nearly 158.4 million ballots.
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How lawmakers’ social media activity changed in the days after the U.S. Capitol riot
Social media activity by members of Congress changed in notable ways following the rioting at the Capitol by supporters of President Trump.
