Republican voters more engaged than Democrats this cycle

More Republicans than Democrats are engaged in the presidential contest and voter turnout could decrease compared with the 2008 election, according to a Gallup poll on Monday.

Seventy-four percent of Republicans said they’re thinking about the election “quite a lot,” compared to 61 percent of Democrats, the USA Today/Gallup survey found.

“In most prior election campaigns, Republicans have typically paid a higher level of attention to the election than Democrats. However, the current 13-point Republican advantage is larger than Gallup has measured in recent presidential election years,” Gallup wrote. “That may be because Republicans had a competitive nomination contest this year, while on the Democratic side, President Obama was not challenged for the nomination. In the early part of 2008, when Democrats had a prolonged and competitive nomination contest between Obama and Hillary Clinton, Democrats led Republicans in thought given to the election.”

Among all voters, 64 percent responded that they’ve given quite a lot of thought to the election, which when compared to previous election cycles may indicate that voter turnout could decrease. Americans are less engaged than the 2008 and 2004 elections, but more engaged than the 2000 election, according the poll.

During those cycles, voter engagement in July measured at 70 percent in 2008; 69 percent in 2004; and 42 percent in 2000, according to the poll. Voter turnout during those years was 57 percent; 55 percent; and 51 percent, respectively.

Read more from this story HERE.