America’s electorate in 2016 seems pretty happy with the president it has, but isn’t all that satisfied with the choices it has to replace him, according to early exit polls.
Nationwide, 54% of voters going to the polls today said they approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as President, but only about four in 10 said they would be excited or optimistic about a Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump presidency. And more – nearly seven in 10 -- said they were dissatisfied or angry with the way the government was working.
About four in 10 voters said their top priority in a candidate was one who could bring needed change, but a similar share said they were voting on experience or judgment. Fewer said they were seeking an empathetic candidate.
Majorities called the economy their most important issue, but impressions of the economy itself have ticked up compared with those found in 2012 exit polls. Voters were about evenly split between Clinton and Trump on which candidate would better handle the economy.
About eight in 10 said they were at least somewhat confident that the results of the election would be counted accurately.
These findings come from an exit poll conducted for CNN and other news networks by Edison Research. Results for the national poll are based on interviews with 15,455 voters, and have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
