More than 80 percent of Americans polled say the country is more deeply divided on major issues this year than in the past several years, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Sunday.
The percentage has slowly risen since the start of this year, from 76 percent in mid-January to 85 percent in the most recent poll, conducted from Nov. 17-20.
The results by party:
- 86 percent of Independents say the country is deeply divided
- 85 percent of Republicans
- 84 percent of Democrats
It's not a surprising figure. The presidential campaign between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was one of the most divisive in U.S. history and happened amid protests of police violence on blacks, the rising popularity of alt-right groups, calls to create a national registry of Muslims living in the country and a movement to curb the number of immigrants entering the U.S.
Trump wasn't expected to win the election by most forecasts, but took it in a landslide, stumping pollsters and media outlets. His slight lead in three states was questioned by lawmakers and computer scientists, eventually resulting in a recount by Green Party candidate Jill Stein and, with it, more among Trump and Clinton.
In the CNN/ORC poll, 51 percent of Americans said they preferred to amend the constitution so the candidate with the popular vote (Clinton) wins the election and more than half say they are dissatisfied with the way democracy is working in the country.
Interviews were conducted with 1,003 Americans from Nov. 17-20, with 30 percent identifying as Republicans, 27 percent as Democrats and 43 percent as Independent or other.
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