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Poll: Black Women Overwhelmingly Motivated to Vote This Election

By Brian Freeman | Wednesday, 21 August 2024 07:52 PM EDT

Black women overwhelmingly (71%) say this year's election is the most important one of their lifetime and are thus increasingly motivated to vote, according to the just-released Black Women in America national poll, The Hill reported on Wednesday.

The respondents added that their top issues in the elections are saving democracy and preserving freedoms.

According to the nonpartisan poll, which was carried out by the Highland Project and Brilliant Corners Research and Strategies, 86% of Black women said they will vote this election, which is an 8% increase from last year.

Highland Project founder and CEO Gabrielle Wyatt told The Hill that "this is such a pivotal moment in our country. Black women are truly not just giving their vote, but demanding an actionable agenda that centers our greatest concerns, needs and dreams."

Wyatt added that issues such as protecting and strengthening social safety nets and protecting communities against attacks on rights — including fighting for women's health, maternal health, and reproductive freedoms — "are very alive and very unwell in Black communities. This is not an election nor a future solely dependent on dollars in pockets. This is a future dependent on how our well-being is protected."

The poll showed that additional top issues for Black women are racism and discrimination (94%), reforming the criminal justice system (93%), and protecting voting rights for all citizens.

The poll also demonstrates an extremely wide gap in backing for Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump.

Black women rated their favorability of Harris at 83 out of 100, while Trump only received a 10.9 rating.

Some of that favorability has to do with how Black women feel Harris will address issues compared to Trump, with 92% of Black women saying Harris would do a better job addressing the Black maternal health crisis, compared to 4% who said Trump would, and 83% who said the vice president will do better handling crime, compared to 10% who said the same of the former president.

"I think Black women right now are naming that our future is truly at stake, and that this election actually goes far beyond one election," Wyatt told The Hill. "It goes far beyond electoral politics. It's about being clear that there are significant and life-altering rollbacks that are happening right now, putting our collective future at stake."

The poll, which surveyed 705 Black women who are registered to vote, was conducted from July 28 to Aug. 7, with the margin of error overall being plus or minus 3.7 percentage points at a 95% confidence interval.