Coronado students conduct exit poll on first day of early voting

It’s no surprise that most El Paso voters are Democrats, but an early voting exit poll conducted by Coronado High School students did find some interesting statistics.

For example, nearly all of the people who voted for Donald Trump say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Also, El Paso voters tend to be more optimistic than most of the nation.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, We(fillintheblank) released the results gathered from an exit poll conducted on the first day of early voting in El Paso. An exit poll is when a sample of people who voted are asked who they voted for when leaving the polls.

WE(fillintheblank) is a student run organization dedicated to engaging the youth in politics, and its work has received national attention in the past. Its last exit poll on the Congressional election was quoted in the Economist and Huffington Post.

Just last month, the group traveled to Austin to participate in the Texas Tribune Festival to discuss issues with some of the biggest names in politics.

“What we are hoping the community will gain from this poll is not only who is leading, but the make up of El Paso voters”, Hanaa Aldasouqi told ABC-7.

She added the poll also hopes to show why El Pasoans are voting, what issues are most moving, and what’s motivating the youth.

The group of non-partisan students conducted the poll Monday at more than 15 early voting locations across El Paso. The group also gathered data from more than 1,000 polls.

More than 1,200 voters were polled.

The students then gave a PowerPoint presentation at Tuesday’s news conference, detailing its sample of early voters.

Here is just some of the data from the presentation.

VOTER PARTY AFFILIATIONS

60% Democrat

18% Republican

15% Independent

SEX OF VOTERS

52% female

48% male

AGE BREAKDOWN: MOST VOTERS 40+, HARDLY ANY YOUNG VOTERS

Almost half (44%) ages 41-64

35% ages 65+

16% ages 26-40

Only 5% were 18-24

ETHNICITY OF VOTER

63% Hispanic

25% White

6% African American

2% Mixed

2% Other

1% Native American

1% Asian

0% Pacific Islander

GENERAL VOTES

71% Hillary Clinton

21% Donald Trump

3% Gary Johnson

1% Jill Stein

4% Other

DEMOCRAT VOTERS

97% of Democrats voted for Clinton.

1% of Democrats voter for Trump.

2% voted for others (not Stein or Johnson)

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

68% of Independents voted for Clinton

32% of Independents voted for Trump

REPUBLICAN VOTERS

85% of Republicans voted for Trump

8% of Republicans voted for Clinton

2% voted for Johnson

5% voted for other (not Stein)

MOTIVATION FOR VOTING

56% said for right choice

34% said against other candidates

10% said other reason

SEX OF CLINTON VOTERS

56% of Clinton voters were female

44% of Clinton voters were male

SEX OF TRUMP VOTERS

56% of Trump voters were male

44% of Trump voters were female

EL PASO VOTERS MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN NATION

70% of the nation says nation headed in wrong direction

Only 42% in El Paso say the same

28% of the nation says nation headed in right direction

45% in El Paso agree

TRUMP SUPPORTERS OVERWHELMINGLY SAY WRONG DIRECTION

92% of Trump voters say country headed in wrong direction

Only 3% say right direction

CLINTON SUPPORTERS MORE OPTIMISTIC

62% of Clinton voters say county headed in right direction

23% say wrong direction

WE says it’s the duty of the youth to prevent democracy from becoming a spectator sport through political activism. By doing so, the youth build a foundation that may be perpetuated into the future.

It says the organization gives the student the environment needed to develop and advocate a collective self-interest that will advance our society.