Majority of voters see corruption in the political system as the most serious problem facing the country
83% of voters support disclosure of contributions to organizations engaged in politics
A new bipartisan poll, conducted by Democratic (ALG Research) and Republican (GS Strategy Group) firms and commissioned by Campaign Legal Center (CLC), shows that a majority of voters see corruption in the political system as the most serious problem facing the country, especially among independents. Political corruption ranks ahead of rising healthcare costs and climate change.
The poll also finds that unlimited, undisclosed political contributions and the influence of big money in politics are seen as major problems. 60 percent of voters believe that the amount of corporate special interest money in politics affects their lives. Notably, 83 percent of voters support disclosure of contributions engaged in electoral politics. 71 percent of voters want the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to take on a more active role in enforcing campaign finance laws.
“The Democratic nominee needs to run against Washington corruption in 2020,” said ECU Communications Director Patrick Burgwinkle. “Democrats flipped the House because they proved to voters they were going to change the status quo and root out corruption in Washington’s rigged system. In order to take back the Presidency and the Senate, we need to make sure candidates run grassroots campaigns that put corruption front and center.”
Click here to see the first polling memo and here for the second polling memo.
The results from CLC’s poll echo End Citizens United’s (ECU) polling over the last several election cycles. In a recent ECU-commissioned poll of voters in 12 battleground states, 83 percent of voters said “cracking down on political corruption” was a top or major priority, tied with “making health care affordable” for the most important issue for deciding who to vote for in November 2020. 80 percent of independents and 92 percent of voters in counties that flipped from Obama to Trump listed “cracking down on political corruption” as a top or major priority.
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