Poll: Democracy, abortion are top priorities for single-issue voters

Voters who may decide to vote for or against a candidate on a single issue tend to prioritize protecting democracy or constitutional rights and abortion, according to the latest national NBC News poll. 

Asked if there was one issue that’s so important they would vote for or against a candidate based on that issue alone, 19% of registered voters answered with protecting democracy or constitutional rights, while 18% said abortion was their single-most important issue.

Those responses were followed by immigration or border security (14%), guns (9%), the Israel-Hamas war (5%) and LGBTQ issues (4%). One in five voters said none of the issues listed would be so important to determine their vote for or against a candidate. 

The largest share of single-issue GOP voters (25%) said their vote would depend on a candidate’s stance on immigration or border security.

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Among Democrats, 23% said protecting democracy or constitutional rights could determine their vote, compared to 16% of Republicans. A similar share of Democrats (24%) say they would base their vote on abortion, compared to 14% of Republicans.

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The poll also finds that the highest share of single-issue women voters (22%) say abortion is their top issue. 

The NBC News poll was conducted Nov. 10-14 and surveyed 1,000 registered voters — 833 by cellphone — and it has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.