National Election Pool General Election Exit Polls, 2006

This data collection consists of election data collected through questionnaires completed by voters as they left their polling places on election day, November 7, 2006, as well as through pre-election telephone interviews conducted between October 27, 2006 and November 5, 2006, in states with large populations of absentee and early voters. Part 1 contains national data collected from a sample of 250 polling locations representing all 50 states. Parts 2-33 contain data collected from individual state surveys conducted in 32 states including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Both the national and state surveys asked a series of questions about electoral choices in the relevant gubernatorial, senatorial, and congressional elections, how long prior to the election voters decided on their candidate, the factors that influenced their choice, whether they supported state-specific proposals such as raising the minimum wage and banning same-sex marriage, and how confident they were that votes in their state would be counted accurately. Views were sought on the war in Iraq, illegal immigration, the economy, the Democratic and Republican parties, and whether respondents approved of the way President George W. Bush was handling the presidency. Other questions addressed respondents' financial situation, for whom they voted in the 2004 presidential election, and whether they identified themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians. In addition, national sample respondents gave their opinions on the direction of the country, the Bush Administration, the United States Congress, and whether life would be better for the next generation of Americans, while individual state respondents gave their opinions of local politicians. Demographic variables include age, sex, race, ethnicity, education level, household income, marital status, sexual orientation, labor union membership, religious affiliation, frequency of religious attendance, political party affiliation, political philosophy, and whether children lived in the household.