Election Day 2024: Fear for American democracy is the biggest issue nationwide in Pennsylvania

Widespread economic dissatisfaction, sharp divisions over the country's future and polarized views on major party candidates characterize voters' attitudes nationwide in ABC News' preliminary poll results for the 2024 election.

The state of democracy was the most important issue for the five voters in the election survey by a narrow margin.

Preliminary results are subject to change as election polls are updated throughout election night.

The country and democracy

Voters, by and large, express more negative than positive views about the country's development: only 26% are enthusiastic or satisfied with the way things are going, while 72% are dissatisfied or angry.

More voters view American democracy as threatened (73%) than as secure (25%). Still, about six in 10 respondents in these preliminary survey results say the country's best days are ahead of them, while about a third say the country's best days are in the past.

In the seven swing states, between 68% and 73% of voters believe that democracy in this country is under threat.

Extremism and candidate favoritism

55 percent describe Trump's views as “too extreme,” and his personal popularity is 44 to 55 percent. Fewer describe Harris' views as too extreme (46%), although her personal popularity is slightly behind at 48% to 50%.

According to the preliminary results, Trump is slightly less likely to be viewed as “too extreme” in the seven swing states than nationally, but still more so than Harris.

Respondent favorability is not the deciding factor: Only 40% viewed Trump favorably in 2016, when he won the Electoral College (though not the popular vote). One reason is that almost as few, 43%, had a positive opinion of his opponent this year, Hillary Clinton. (In 2020, Trump's approval rating was 46%, Joe Biden's was 52%.)

Underscoring the emotions surrounding the election, a preliminary 36% of voters said they would be “scared” if Trump were elected, while 29% said they would be afraid of a Harris win.

When it comes to personal qualities, voters in the preliminary results pick leadership qualities as the top performer among the four people tested in the exit poll.

The economy and Biden

The economy remains a key disruptive factor. 67-32% of voters say it is in poor condition. And 45% say their own financial situation is worse now than it was four years ago, compared to 30% who are, and just 24% doing better. The number of people “worse off” is above the level in 2008, when it was 42%, and far exceeds the proportions in 2020 (20%) and 2016 (28%).

President Joe Biden is ahead with an approval rating of just 41% (58% disapprove). For Harris, convincing voters that she is taking a new direction from Biden's has been a challenge. (Biden's approval rating is the lowest for a sitting president in exit polls since George W. Bush's 27% when he left office in 2008. Trump managed 50% approval in 2020, but Biden still surpassed him.)

Biden is popular with voters in the seven swing states.

The economic outlook is less bleak in Michigan than in other battlegrounds. The economy is the top election issue in Georgia and the least important in Michigan.

Top topics

The state of democracy is by a narrow margin the most important issue for voters out of five voters tested in the election polls. 35 percent of voters named it their most important issue, followed by 31 percent for the economy, 14 percent for abortion, 11 percent for immigration and 4 percent for foreign policy.

Abortion is particularly important for women at 19% in the preliminary results, up from 8% for men and rising to 42% for women under 30. (Women currently make up 53% of all voters, men 47%.)

Trump is more trusted in the pre-election polls than Harris on immigration and the economy, while Harris leads Trump on trust on abortion.

Overall, 66 percent say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, a key focus of Harris' campaign. (Support for legal abortion hit a low of 51% in exit polls in 2020; the previous high was 63% in 1992.)

Legal abortion receives a 60% to 69% majority in all seven swing states.

On immigration, a key focus for Trump, 39% say most undocumented immigrants should be deported, up from 26% in 2016 and 28% in 2012. 57% say undocumented immigrants should be given the option instead should be encouraged to apply for legal status.

Swing states

Georgia

President Biden's victory by 11,779 votes four years ago made him the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1992. After the election, a recorded call by Trump to pressure Georgia's secretary of state to “find” the votes Trump needed focused the nation on Georgia's election integrity.

In preliminary poll results, 81% of Georgia voters say they are very or somewhat confident that the state's elections will be conducted fairly and accurately, more than nationally (68%). These views cut across party lines, ranging from 94% of Democrats to 78% of Independents and 72% of Republicans.

Regardless, a total of 68% of Georgia voters see U.S. democracy as somewhat or very threatened.

Additionally, 42% of Trump voters in these preliminary results say he should challenge the results rather than accept them if he loses Georgia's official vote count. Half as many Kamala Harris supporters say she should challenge a losing result, 21%.

40 percent of Georgia voters say the economy is the most important issue when they vote. That puts it first among the five topics tested, higher than the 31 percent who say this nationally. This is partly due to the 52% who say they are worse off financially than they were four years ago. This is a significant increase from just 16% in 2020 and exceeds the previous high of 33% in available election polls since 1992. About three-quarters (73%) say the economy is in less than good or poor shape, exceeding that figure thus the 67% who say this at national level.

In these preliminary results, 30 percent of Georgia voters are Black, matching the 2020 share (29%) and the largest share of any swing state. Overall, Georgia voters split evenly between Harris and Trump in terms of their confidence in solving racial issues, 50% to 48%; 32% of white voters choose Harris on this issue, compared to 89% of black voters.

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, voters are divided on whether federal hurricane relief is going to the people who need it: 47% think it is, while 50% say it is not.

North Carolina

North Carolina has voted Republican in all but two presidential elections since 1968 (2008 and 1976), including 1.3 percentage points for Trump in 2020 (his narrowest win that year). Biden improved Hillary Clinton's results among college-educated white voters, moderate voters and men, making for a closer contest than in 2016, but Trump was bolstered by strong support from conservatives, evangelical white Christians and white voters without a college degree.

47 percent in the state say they are worse off now than when Biden became president. This is the highest number in available election polls in North Carolina since 1992. Four years ago, fewer than half as many, 20 percent, said they were worse off under Trump.

It follows that 36% cited the economy as the most important issue in their vote, although about the same number, 32%, cited the state of democracy as their most important issue. Among attributes, 32% cited “the ability to lead” as most important; 27% believe they can “make the change needed.”

Nearly 4 in 10 voters are conservative and 31% are white evangelical Christians, up 9 points nationally. At the same time, 60% of North Carolina voters say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania could be the tipping point this year. After voting for Trump by less than one percentage point in 2016, the aptly named Keystone State flipped to Biden in 2020, when he defeated Trump by just over one percentage point – or around 80,500 votes.

In the preliminary survey results, Trump is in terms of personal popularity among those surveyed: 47% expressed a positive opinion of him overall, 51% a negative one. (Still, that's slightly better than his national ratings, 44-54% favorable-unfavorable.) Trump did even worse in popularity when he won the state in 2016 — but benefited this year from an equally unpopular opponent in Hillary Clinton. In this year's preliminary results, Kamala Harris is as unpopular as Trump, 46%-53%, favorable-unfavorable.

Issues can be as important or more important than personal ratings — and 33% say the state of democracy is the most important issue in their presidential vote, roughly in line with the 35% who say this nationally. Thirty percent in Pennsylvania say the economy is their most important issue, again similar to the share who say this nationally (31 percent).

Hurting Harris is that 50% of voters say their family's financial situation is worse today compared to four years ago, more than 45% saying this nationally and a high figure in available election polls since 1992. Just 22 % say their financial situation has gotten worse and better.

In Pennsylvania, more voters support the use of fracking than oppose it: 55% to 36%. Harris has said she will not ban fracking if elected; She has been criticized since her first run for president for changing her position on the issue.