Are people lying about their vote for president? Survey finds a gender and age gap
With Election Day less than a week away, many American voters have already cast their ballots, but some won’t tell you — or their closest people — which candidate they support, a new poll found.
Nearly a quarter of U.S. voters said they have lied to people they feel closest to about the candidate they back for president, according to an Oct. 30 Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll.
Some experts say the survey results underscore new levels of polarization and fear of political violence.
“There’s a new privacy emerging here, where it’s far more convenient to either lie or not talk about it,” said John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll. The pollster has no connection to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
The poll surveyed 1,858 registered voters between Oct. 22 and 24 and has a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points for the overall population and 2.6 percentage points for registered voters.
Researchers said the survey didn’t ask “how, why or to whom” respondents lied.
Generational divide
Gen Z voters — including many eligible to vote for the first time this year — are most likely to lie about their choice for presidential candidates, with 48 percent saying they have lied about their vote, according to the poll.
“Voters 18 to 27 who came of age during the hyper-polarized Trump era appear to be among the most sensitive to perceived pressure and judgment from friends or loved ones,” according to Axios.
Younger Americans — many of whom tend to be less confrontational because they were raised in a digitized world — might rather lie about how they voted to avoid a potentially awkward interaction, Gerzema said.
But Millennials, ages 28-43, are not far off, with 38 percent also saying they’ve lied to people close to them about whom they voted for, according to results.
A large majority of Gen X and Boomers and older reported they have not lied, with 83 percent and 94 percent, respectively, saying so, the poll found.
According to the survey, 33 percent of respondents said they “aren’t close to some family members because of differing political beliefs.” For Gen Z, the percentage jumps to 44, and it’s even higher for Millennials at 47 percent.
Gender gap
The poll also found a gender gap when it comes to sharing preferences for political candidates.
Seventeen percent of women said they lied about how they voted, while nearly twice as many men (30 percent) said they lied, according to the survey.
“Polarization has become so toxic that many Americans are self-censoring or lying to preserve workplace, social and familial relationships,” Gerzema said.
This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Are people lying about their vote for president? Survey finds a gender and age gap."
