NEW POLL ON MISSING VOTES SHOWS VOTERS EXPECT ELECTED OFFICIALS TO SHOW UP

Joe Kildea  |   August 3, 2021

Washington, D.C. – According to a new Club for Growth poll, constituents expect their elected representatives to show up and vote, have minimal willingness to accept missed votes, and are prepared to hold their elected representatives responsible if they miss large numbers of votes.

Key Takeaways:

  • Voters nationwide say that it is very important to them personally that their elected representatives consistently show up to vote on legislation. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of voters say it is very important to them personally that their elected representatives show up to vote.
  • There is bi-partisan agreement on the importance that elected representatives show up to vote. Four-in-five (79%) Republicans and 74% of Democrats say it is very important to them personally that their elected representatives show up to vote.
  • Voters are only willing to allow a small number of missed votes before they question their elected representative’s commitment. A plurality of voters (45%) say they would only allow 5% of votes or fewer to be missed.
  • 74% of voters expect an elected representative who fails to meet those expectations to resign.

Click here to read the polling memo.

In February, Club for Growth Foundation announced the State Missed Votes Scorecards initiative to shed light on which state legislators are doing their jobs by voting and which ones aren’t.

Methodology

WPAi conducted a poll of n = 1,000 voters nationwide. Data was collected from a national online panel of voters who have been matched back to their state’s voter files. Fielding was conducted from July 20-28, 2021. The sample was stratified by geography, age, gender, ethnicity, and party affiliation to ensure a representative sample. The survey has a margin of error of +3.1% at the 95% confidence level.