New Poll of Registered Voters Age 65+ Reveals Surprising Views

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A Bring The Vote Home survey of nearly 4,000 registered voters age 65 and older found that senior citizens are a politically aware group with strong feelings on a variety of policy and political issues.  The Bring The Vote Home survey is noteworthy in that it specifically seeks to determine the political viewpoints and concerns of American seniors who are registered voters.

The results revealed that senior voters lean towards the GOP especially when Hillary Clinton is the nominee. When asked about potential Presidential candidates, respondents favored Scott Walker (45%) over Hillary Clinton (36%), and Jeb Bush (44%) over Hillary Clinton (41%).  In addition, the survey found that 44 percent of senior voters would support a Republican candidate if the 2016 Congressional elections were held today, while only 35 percent of seniors would vote for a Democratic candidate.

The survey also asked seniors about a variety of policy areas and found that foreign affairs is a topline issue for senior voters.  When asked about the Islamic state known as ISIS, immigration reform, health care, federal deficit, jobs and unemployment, and climate change, thirty-one percent of senior voters chose ISIS as the most important issue facing the country right now, followed by jobs and unemployment (18%). Senior voters were least concerned with climate change, with only five percent of voters citing this as the most pressing issue in America.

Other key findings from the survey include:

• A majority of seniors on both sides of the aisle (53% of Democrats, 67% of Independents, and 71% of Republicans) are in favor of Congress voting on any agreement that President Obama makes with Iranconcerning its nuclear program.
• Thirty-six percent of women and one-in-four men chose ISIS as the most important issue facing the country.
• Urban seniors are more likely to vote for a Democratic Congressional candidate (DEM: 50%, GOP: 46%), while suburban (DEM: 31%, GOP: 46%) and rural seniors (DEM: 28%, GOP: 52%) are more likely to vote Republican.

“This Bring The Vote Home survey provides an important measure of senior Americans’ views as we approach the upcoming election,” stated Eric Berger, CEO of the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare. “Bring the Vote Home is also making important strides in empowering seniors across the country to register and, if needed, obtain absentee ballots so that their voices will be heard on Election Day.”

The survey questions were conducted as part of a Morning Consult Poll from April 27 to May 5 and June 5 to June 8, 2015. The poll surveyed 3,904 registered voters, age 65 and older, and has a margin error of two percentage points.

To view the National Seniors Poll Charts, click here.

To read the National Seniors Poll Results Memo, click here.

ABOUT BRING THE VOTE HOME

Bring The Vote Home was launched to help senior citizens, disabled Americans, their family members, and their home healthcare clinicians participate in the electoral process. Home healthcare beneficiaries make up a rapidly growing portion of the population, but the homebound status of many of them makes it difficult for them to travel to polling places. Through its voter and absentee ballot registration process, Bring The Vote Home is dedicated to helping all members of the home healthcare community participate fully in our nation’s democratic process. To learn more, visit http://bringthevotehome.org.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is courtesy of Bloomberg Business photograph by Ralf-Finn Hestoft/Corbis.

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