The American electorate is sharply polarized, and it’s the most polarized who are most likely to vote, according to a new Pew Research Center report released Friday.
Overall turnout this year is expected to be about 40 percent, Pew said. But it found nearly three in four “who hold consistently conservative attitudes are likely to vote in the midterm,” as well as 52 percent with mostly conservative views.
Liberals are less intersted. Fifty-eight percent with “coinsistently liberal views” and about one in three with most liberal attitudes are likely to show up at the poll.
“Hostility toward the opposing party is a key marker of polarization and a strong motivator for voting, especially among Republicans,” Pew found.
Among Republicans and Republican leaners with a very unfavorable view of the Democratic Party in the current survey, 65 percent are likely voters.
But among Republicans and GOP leaners who have a mostly unfavorable view of the Democratic Party, 40 percent are likely voters.
With Democrats and Democratic leaners, about half who have very unfavorable opinions of the Republican party are likely to vote, as are about one-third of those with mostly unfavorable views.
And, Pew found, “Ticket splitting may be rare.”