Exit polls: Inflation, abortion rights drive voters to polls

Going into the midterms, likely voters named the economy their top issue.

ByNadine El-Bawab, Gary Langer, and William Mansell
Last Updated: November 9, 2022, 10:40 AM EST

Voters headed to the polls Tuesday for the midterm elections that will determine which party holds the Senate and House of Representatives and could significantly impact President Joe Biden's agenda for the final two years of his first term in the White House.

According to a recent ABC/Post poll, 80% of likely voters said the economy was their top issue in their vote for Congress and 77% said the same about inflation.

Even after the polls close and votes are counted Tuesday night, it could be days or even a week before final midterm election results are known in every state, according to election experts and officials.

Latest headlines:

Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 08, 2022, 6:04 PM EST

Nearly 3rd of voters say Biden should not seek 2nd term, according to preliminary exit poll results

Nearly a third of voters say President Joe Biden should not seek a second term in 2024. More than a third of Democrats say Biden should not run again.

In preliminary results, nearly half say his policies are hurting the country, while just over a third say they’re helping. The remaining voters say they are making no difference.

Nearly a third say they are voting mainly to show opposition to Biden, while less than a third say the same about Trump.

Nearly half of voters say Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election.

Nov 08, 2022, 5:53 PM EST

More than two thirds of voters say Democracy in US is threatened, preliminary exit poll results show

According to preliminary exit poll results, more than two-thirds of voters say democracy in the U.S. is threatened.

More than two-thirds of voters express confidence that elections in their state are being conducted fairly and accurately.

Nov 08, 2022, 5:41 PM EST

Majority of voters say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, preliminary exit poll results show

Sixty percent of voters say abortion should be legal rather than illegal in all or most cases, compared to 36% who disagree, according to preliminary exit poll results. This is a 9% rise in the share of voters saying it should be legal from 2020.

Among voters, there is a gender gap when it comes to the issue of abortion, with 32% of women calling it their top issue compared to 21% of men. Sixty-two percent of women favor legal abortion, as do 58% of men.

More voters also are dissatisfied or angry about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to eliminating the constitutional right to abortion than are satisfied or enthusiastic about it, at 60% to 37%.

More voters trust the Democratic Party over the Republican Party when it comes to handling abortion at 52% to 42%.

Nov 08, 2022, 5:25 PM EST

Voters trust the Republican Party over Democrats to handle inflation, preliminary exit poll results show

According to preliminary results, voters trust the Republican Party over the Democratic Party to handle inflation by a moderate 8-point margin of 52% to 44%.

In large part given economic concerns, President Joe Biden is underwater in job approval with 45% approving of the way he’s handling his job as president, while 54% disapprove.

That’s not far from the lowest presidential approval rating in midterm exit polls since 1982, George W. Bush’s 43% in 2006.

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