Early exit polls indicate that the top two issues for voters are the state of democracy and the economy

The result of the preliminary presidential election exit polls have been released.

This is a poll conducted by Edison Research on behalf of The National Election Poll, comprised of ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News.

NBC News reports that the top issues cited by voters is the state of democracy (35%) and the economy (31%). Abortion (14%) and immigration (11%) were ranked as the next most important issues, while only 4% named foreign policy.

You have to be careful when looking at such exit poll results. There may be some Trump supporters who consider Vice President Kamala Harris a threat to democracy. Voters are divided on which candidate might be better on handling the economy. Foreign policy could reflect concern about Ukraine and/or Gaza,

The exit poll results found that two in 10 women said abortion was the most important issue to their vote, compared to 8% of men.

These are just preliminary results. The poll results can shift through the night as more interviews are conducted and more votes are counted. The early poll results do not include any details about which candidate voters prefer.

NBC wrote:

The early exit poll results also show that voters who backed Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have different priorities on the issues.

A majority of Harris voters prioritized the state of democracy. Abortion was the second-most important issue to Harris voters, with 2 in 10 of them saying it mattered most to their vote, followed by economy, foreign policy and immigration.

Half of Trump voters said the economy was the most important issue to their vote, followed by immigration (20%), democracy (12%), abortion (6%) and foreign policy (4%).

CBS News, in its report on the early exit polls, wrote:

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.