NEW POLL: Americans Support Elections That Produce Problem-Solving Politicians

by 
Rainey Center
, 

Washington, D.C. - New Rainey Center polling finds that voters across the partisan spectrum believe that election winners should have the support of a majority of voters and that all voters should be able to participate in primaries. Rainey Center also finds that voters want to see less extremism in the political system. 

Sarah Hunt, President of Rainey Center, said, “American voters believe that elections should be determined by a majority of voters and want to see policymakers pursue solutions. We need an electoral system that reflects that reality.”

Connor Sandagata, Senior Fellow, Public Opinion, said “Voters consistently express the desire for more solutions and less extremism in politics.”

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Key Findings

Satisfaction With the Election System

Voters report little satisfaction with the current state of the election system, saying that it is not producing good government.

  • Voters report very little satisfaction with the current election system, with only 9% reporting that the election system is working “very well” to produce good government. Fifteen percent of Republicans and the same share of conservatives say “very well,” while only 6% of moderates agree. Thirty-four percent of Republicans and 33% of conservatives say “somewhat well.”

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Problem Solving

Voters want to see more bipartisanship from lawmakers to solve problems and report that lawmakers work together less than they prefer.

  • Only 3% of voters feel that politicians from different parties are “very often” willing to work together to solve problems, while 21% say they are “sometimes” willing to (21% of Democrats, 17% of Independents, 23% of Republicans). The majority of voters (52%) feel that politicians rarely work together to solve problems.
  • However, the majority of voters (55%) say that politicians should work together “very often” to solve problems, including 61% of Democrats, 57% of Independents, 49% of Republicans, and 52% of moderates. Only 4% of Republicans say that politicians from different parties should “never” work together and only 13% say “rarely.”

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Values and Goals For Democracy

Voters support two key goals for democracy: that election winners should have the support of a majority of voters and that all voters should be able to vote for any candidate in a taxpayer-funded election.

  • Voters overall (53%) and Republican voters (53%) believe that an election winner should have a majority of the vote. Only 25% of Republican voters believe it's okay for a candidate to win an election without a majority. 
  • A majority of voters (69%), Republicans (67%) and conservatives (72%) agree with the statement, "All voters should have the right to vote for any candidate in every taxpayer funded election." Only 11% of all voters, 13% of Republicans and 14% of conservatives disagree. 

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The Rainey Center conducted a survey with an online sample of 1,853 respondents fielded over web panels from May 10th to May 12th, 2025, and weighted to reflect national distributions of education, age, gender, race, and 2024 Presidential vote, with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points. Margins of error for subgroup means are larger.

Click here to read the polling data.

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