US Polling Data reveals 65% Believe Voting Matters

FROM POLITICO| November 10th, 2025 

Despite the sense of doom and gloom that underpins much of today’s politics, nearly two-thirds of Americans — 65 percent — still believe voting can make a real difference when the right leaders are elected, according to The POLITICO Poll conducted Oct. 18 to 21. Fewer than a quarter — 24 percent — say that no matter who is elected, things do not change.

Voters also hold their elected officials to high standards — at least in theory. An overwhelming majority — 92 percent — say that a political leader’s willingness to work across party lines is at least somewhat important in making them a good leader, even as bipartisanship becomes increasingly rare.

Strong majorities also say that a political leader’s personal values (89 percent), how much experience they have of the world outside of politics (88 percent), their individual policies (88 percent), political experience (86 percent), and their identity and representation of different groups (85 percent) are at least somewhat important in making a good political leader. Those views cut across party lines, the poll of 2,051 U.S. adults found.