survey website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe last few months have been a whirlwind in American politics and we were able to include specific hot topics at the national and state level in this year\u2019s survey,\u201d said Julie Keller, an associate professor of sociology and director of the Social Science Institute for Research, Education, and Policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the key findings are:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nTrust in election officials:<\/strong> A majority of respondents reported that they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in election authorities \u2013 poll workers, local boards of canvassers, the state Board of Elections and Department of State. Across party affiliations, Rhode Islanders had a fair amount or great deal of trust in the state\u2019s voting machines, led by Democrats (93%), Republicans (71%), and Independents (69%). Meanwhile, only 34% and 35% of Republicans had a fair amount or great deal of trust in mail ballot drop boxes and mailing a ballot using the U.S. Postal Service, respectively \u2013 compared with 84% of Democrats and 43% of Independents on both mail ballot questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWorries about AI and R.I. elections:<\/strong> 溏心vlog免费B站 6 in 10 respondents worry artificial intelligence will somewhat or greatly hurt the election process. No matter party affiliation, the majority of respondents \u2013 79% of Republicans, 77% of Democrats, and 77% of Independents \u2013 are somewhat or very concerned about the use of AI-generated political media, such as fake images or video, and support state legislation to ban AI-generated political media.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGeneral Assembly election-related legislation:<\/strong> An overall majority of respondents also back many of the other proposed bills before the assembly related to elections. A solid majority of Republicans (80%) \u2013 and smaller majorities of Democrats (56%) and Independents (69%) \u2013 support legislation that would increase the responsibilities of the state Division of Motor Vehicles in preventing noncitizens from registering to vote. Smaller majorities support limits on who can mail another person\u2019s mail ballot, while only a majority of Democrats (56%) approve legislation related to rank-choice voting in Rhode Island presidential primaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOpinions on media and politics:<\/strong> The top social media sites for respondents to get political and election news are Facebook (44%), YouTube (40%), Instagram (33%) and TikTok (23%). The top three national media sources for Rhode Islanders are Fox News, CNN, and NBC Nightly News. When it comes to local reporting on elections and campaigns, there is a split in opinion on the fairness of journalists. A solid majority of Democrats (80%) feel journalists provide fair coverage of elections somewhat often or very often. Meanwhile, 68% of Republicans and 66% of Independents feel Rhode Islanders are somewhat often or very often exposed to inaccurate information.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPublic policy, education and quality of life:<\/strong> A majority of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans support an increase in spending on education, housing, and building and repairing roads. Asked to select the most important priorities for the governor and General Assembly, Democrats included housing (55%), health care (45%), and education (43%); Independents, housing (58%), health care (40%), and roads and bridges (38%); and Republicans, roads and bridges (54%), crime (53%), and housing (43%). <\/p>\n\n\n\nPolled for the second year on the most important problem facing K-12 public schools in Rhode Island, the largest increase between 2023 and 2024 was in the percentage of respondents who chose insufficient funding (up six percentage points, to 29%). The poll showed a rise in satisfaction with the overall quality of life in Rhode Island over the last year, going from 45% to 52% of respondents, and perceptions that the state\u2019s economy is very or somewhat strong, an increase of five percentage points, to 22%. Results were fairly consistent with last year\u2019s percentages because of the poll\u2019s margin of error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An annual opinion poll<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Rhode Island Survey Initiative was launched last year by a team of researchers from 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Harrington School for Communication and Media; Social Science Institute for Research, Education, and Policy; and the Department of Political Science, with plans to conduct at least one survey of Rhode Island residents each year. Each poll will include different focus areas, with some repeated questions to gauge the change in attitudes of Rhode Island residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keller said the survey initiative reflects the institute\u2019s goal of providing evidence-based insights to communities across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe initiative continues to strengthen experiential learning opportunities for 溏心vlog免费B站 students while helping to inform decision-making across the state,\u201d she said. \u201cThis year, more organizations were consulted about what topic areas should be addressed. And more faculty trained students to work with the data as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
College of Arts and Sciences Fellows Delaney Sullivan \u201925 and Abigail Noetzel \u201926 helped choose election topics in the survey\u2019s election module based on research and interviews and helped construct the survey questionnaire using an online survey tool. Their research included reviewing information about local and federal elections and public opinion in academic articles, books, and reports; listening to local political podcasts and shows; and conducting interviews with state and local election officials and advocacy groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInterviewing election officials allowed me to understand our election system more extensively,\u201d said Sullivan, a double major in political science and criminology and criminal justice. \u201cI believe that public opinion research in Rhode Island has been minimal, which is why I think this survey is vital to election officials and residents in Rhode Island, as it allows us to understand the state better.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGoing forward, I am confident that I can excel in my courses at 溏心vlog免费B站 given what I have learned through the fellowship, especially in terms of research,\u201d said Noetzel, a double major in psychology and criminology and criminal justice. \u201cI have developed countless transferable skills, and I am super grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note about methodology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nParty identification was constructed using the seven-point scale in which self-identified Democrats and Independent-leaning Democrats were combined into the \u201cDemocrat\u201d category; self-identified Republicans and Independent-leaning Republicans were combined into the \u201cRepublican\u201d category; and Independents are in the \u201cIndependent\u201d category.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Oct. 15, 2024 \u2013 Amid a polarizing presidential campaign, a 溏心vlog免费B站 opinion poll released today finds agreement across party affiliations on issues of election integrity, trust in election officials and concerns about election-related violence \u2013 while seeing a divide in worries over voter fraud. The poll \u2013 the second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":96274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98301"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98305,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98301\/revisions\/98305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}