Most people in the United States support creating a federal holiday for voting, expanding hours at polling stations and requiring an identification card to vote.
A majority also supports increasing the number of ballot drop boxes, allowing drive-through voting and allowing same-day voter registration on Election Day.
Those results are from the 2022 American Bar Association Survey of Civic Literacy — the fourth annual survey conducted as part of Law Day. The results were released recently to mark Law Day, which is observed on May 1. The theme this year is “Toward a More Perfect Union: The Constitution in Times of Change.”
A nationally representative survey of 1,000 adults was conducted in English and Spanish by telephone March 2-7, 2022. The survey assessed public knowledge of laws and principles underlying U.S. democracy, plus public opinion of law-related current events, particularly on voting, ballot access and racial justice.
“The ABA Civic Literacy Survey results indicate that most of the public believes that voting is a key part of participating in our democracy,” ABA President Reginald Turner said. “Our system of government relies on participation by the people as they exercise the most important of our legal rights — the right to vote in a free and fair election.”
The survey posed questions on voting rights, racial justice and basic civic literacy. Here are highlights:
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Voting
• Holiday for voting: Two-thirds (66%) support creating a federal holiday for voting in federal elections. Only 27% oppose the idea.
• Voting procedures: Strong majorities support expanding the hours at polling stations (80%), requiring a person to provide ID before voting (79%) and increasing the number of polling stations in their district (78%). A majority also support increasing the use of ballot drop boxes (59%), allowing drive-through voting (58%) and instituting same-day voter registration on Election Day (55%).
• Ease of voting: More than a third of those polled (38%) said their state has enacted laws making it easier to vote since 2020. One-fifth (21%) said the state has enacted laws making it harder to vote.
• Voting frequency: Asked how often they vote, more than half (59%) said “always” and 29% said “most of the time.” Just 1 in 10 (10%) said “occasionally” and 2% said never.
• Why we vote: Among those who said they vote “always” or “most of the time,” a majority said they do so because “it is my civic responsibility” (68%), “elections matter to the future of the country” (58%) and “I believe my vote makes a difference” (53%). Less than half (42%) said they vote because of “my support of candidates.”
• Why we don’t vote: Among those who said they vote “occasionally” or “never,” just under half (42%) said “candidates don’t motivate me” and nearly a third (31%) said “I don’t believe my vote makes a difference.”
• Making a difference: Nearly half of those polled (42%) said they have “some” confidence that their vote makes a difference. A third said they have “a lot” of confidence about making a difference and a quarter (25%) said they have “not much” confidence or “no confidence.”
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Racial Justice
• Racial bias: A majority (52%) agreed with the statement “The justice system has racial biases built into its rules, procedures and practices.” A majority of Black people (75%), Hispanic people (54%) and people age 18 to 34 (63%) agreed. But only 48% of white people and 40% of people age 65 and older agreed.
• Rule of law: A majority (55%) agreed with the statement “The nation’s judicial system adheres to the rule of law, under which all individuals are treated equally in the eyes of the law.” Support was strongest among Hispanic people (61%), white people (59%) and people age 65 and older (65%). It was weakest among Black people (29%) and people age 18 to 34 (46%).
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Civic Knowledge
• Presidential line of succession: 70% knew that the Speaker of the House is second in line for the presidency.
• First Amendment: 60% knew that the right to vote is not part of the First Amendment.
• Obeying the law: 17% incorrectly thought that obeying the law is a responsibility only for U.S. citizens.
• Freedom of speech: 22% incorrectly thought that freedom of speech is a right only for U.S. citizens.
• Supreme Court: 57% correctly identified John Roberts as chief justice, while 13% thought it was Clarence Thomas, 9% said Sonia Sotomayor and 8% believed it was Amy Coney Barrett.
To read the full survey, visit ambar.org/civicsurvey.
