More than a third of voters in an early exit poll released Tuesday said the most important trait the next president should possess is strong leadership.
Thirty-six percent of respondents in the Morning Consult/Politico exit poll hoped their fellow Americans elect a “strong leader” to occupy Oval Office, while 29 percent said they want someone with “a vision for the future.”
Recommended Stories
According to Politico, fewer than 20 percent of voters in its 2012 exit survey said their top desire was to have a “strong leader” as president.
Another 16 percent of respondents said their number one desire is to have a commander in chief who “shares my values.”
The poll was released as voting was still underway across the U.S., and hours before election returns are expected to come in, Early exit polls can be unreliable.
After casting their ballots for president, an overwhelming 85 percent of respondents said they “just want” the 2016 election to be over, and 72 percent expressed angst about the results.
Fifty percent of voters said they are “sad” about the election being over and 39 percent said the race has left them “depressed.”
The Politico/Morning Consult exit poll of 6,882 early and Election Day voters was conducted online from Oct. 18 to Nov. 8. Results contain a margin of error plus or minus 1 percentage point.
