Undecided Voters Tell Us About Their Biggest Worries
Donald J. Trump and Kamala Harris are starkly different presidential candidates. So why are so many voters — roughly 1 in 6 — still unsure of their choice?
We asked voters who have not yet made up their minds — 830 of them across five battleground states and Ohio — to name their biggest worries with both candidates.
Here is what they said.
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Black woman, 50s, Arizona
Concern about Trump
“He’s made people comfortable with being racist and set the country back 50 years with racism.”
Concern about Harris
“She’s a liar and it feels like she hasn’t done anything she said she was going to do.”
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White woman, 70s, Wisconsin
Concern about Trump
“Don’t like his rhetoric, how he speaks to people.”
Concern about Harris
“Incompetent, no experience in foreign policy or running the government; also has no opinions except on abortion.”
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Hispanic man, 30s, Arizona
Concern about Trump
“Too extreme.”
Concern about Harris
“I don’t know much about her, but I’m unsure about how prepared she is to be president.”
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Black woman, 20s, Georgia
Concern about Trump
“Having the right to control my own body.”
Concern about Harris
“Immigration and inflation.”
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White woman, 50s, Arizona
Concern about Trump
“Arrogance.”
Concern about Harris
“She’s a woman and not sure if a woman should be running.”
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Black man, 50s, Georgia
Concern about Trump
“Has felonies on his record.”
Concern about Harris
“Don’t know much about her policy.”
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Black woman, 60s, Georgia
Concern about Trump
“I don’t trust him.”
Concern about Harris
“I don’t trust her.”
Until President Joe Biden dropped his bid for re-election, a large share of voters were unhappy with their choices for president.
Today, the electorate as a whole is happier, but the uncommitted voters are still not, according to recent polling by The New York Times and Siena College in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.
They trust neither former President Donald J. Trump nor Vice President Kamala Harris. They question the candidates’ honesty and ethics.
Based on New York Times/Siena College polls of 4,132 likely voters conducted in September, including 830 undecided or not fully decided voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Respondents who said they didn’t know or who declined to say are not included.
These voters are younger than the electorate overall, less educated and have a lower income. They are much more likely than voters overall to be Black or Latino, and a little more likely to be men.
Some of these voters may just stay home, but a meaningful portion of them will probably vote. And in a close election, they could be the deciding factor.
In trying to understand what is holding them back from committing, we asked voters to tell us in their own words about their worries. Their phrases were telling: “being a bully,” “she’s an idiot.”
In many ways, their words suggest that voters know, and perhaps have become inured to, Donald Trump’s slash-and-burn campaign style and personality.
But with Kamala Harris, who was plunged into the race only in July, their fears are wider ranging — encompassing both character and the issues, like the economy. And for some voters, the historic nature of her candidacy presents not progress but a drawback.
Voters are concerned about one thing when it comes to Trump: his character.
They said he is arrogant or erratic and talks too much. They talked about his age or criminal trials. The words boiled down to concerns about the former president’s personality and honesty.
Even voters who said they were leaning toward Trump mentioned concerns about chaos and dysfunction.
A small but notable share were also concerned, specifically, about his ability to carry out and complete the tasks of president, mentioning his age and mental capacity.
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White man, 40s, Michigan
Concern about Trump
“Angered easily.”
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White man, 60s, Georgia
Concern about Trump
“Being a bully towards other nations.”
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White man, 40s, North Carolina
Concern about Trump
“He is erratic, not very well-spoken and lies.”
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White man, 30s, Arizona
Concern about Trump
“Him staying off the internet.”
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Man, 60s, Michigan
Concern about Trump
“Being presidential, sense of decorum, way he communicates.”
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White man, 20s, North Carolina
Concern about Trump
“Does not know when to shut up.”
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White woman, 20s, Wisconsin
Concern about Trump
“His age.”
At the same time, even though Trump has crossed all kinds of red lines during his campaign, voters used comparatively mild language in describing their doubts about him. Words like “a bit” and “a little” crept in frequently.
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White woman, 30s, Arizona
Concern about Trump
“Little power hungry.”
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White man, 30s, North Carolina
Concern about Trump
“His authoritative tendencies.”
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Woman, 40s, Michigan
Concern about Trump
“Probably his rhetoric, maybe, and how he presents himself. And the debate was kind of rough.”
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White man, 20s, Georgia
Concern about Trump
“Bit decisive at times. He doesn’t always say the right things.”
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White woman, 70s, Arizona
Concern about Trump
“I wish he could be a little more presidential.”
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Nonwhite man, 30s, North Carolina
Concern about Trump
“He might become too emotional when making decisions.”
Concerns about Harris are more varied.
For Kamala Harris, voters’ anxieties were broader and more complicated. Although qualms about her personality came up less often than with Trump, trustworthiness and honesty were still big question marks for many voters.
So was her ability to handle the economy. Voters specifically mentioned costs and inflation, a persistent concern among undecided and not fully decided voters over the last few months.
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Black man, 20s, Georgia
Concern about Harris
“She will make the economy worse than it is.”
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Black woman, 30s, Ohio
Concern about Harris
“That she’s like every other politician, that she is not going to actually do anything to help us.”
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Black woman, 60s, Georgia
Concern about Harris
“Bring down the price of groceries and housing.”
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Hispanic woman, 20s, Georgia
Concern about Harris
“How she would handle the economy.”
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Black woman, 50s, Michigan
Concern about Harris
“Too liberal.”
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White woman, 30s, Wisconsin
Concern about Harris
“Not following through.”
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White man, 60s, Wisconsin
Concern about Harris
“The people didn’t vote for her; she was appointed. That is not democracy.”
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Black man, 30s, North Carolina
Concern about Harris
“Democrats take the African American vote for granted. Not sure her policies are going to benefit African Americans.”
They also questioned her abilities and wondered if she was ready for the job. Some voters described her with caustic language, which echoes Trump’s, who called her “mentally disabled” and “mentally impaired.”
Harris has not leaned into the historical nature of her candidacy — she would be the first woman of color to be president. For some of these voters, her background may be a challenge. Some voters used language that was outright sexist.
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White man, 70s, Arizona
Concern about Harris
“That she’s not intelligent enough to be president. I think she is an idiot.”
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White woman, 70s, Arizona
Concern about Harris
“I don’t think she’s got it all together.”
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Black man, 40s, North Carolina
Concern about Harris
“Overall untrustworthy.”
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Hispanic man, 30s, Arizona
Concern about Harris
“I don’t know much about her, but I’m unsure about how prepared she is to be president.”
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White woman, 50s, Ohio
Concern about Harris
“She’s a woman. I’m not sure she can get the job done. People probably won’t listen to her.”
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Black woman, 60s, Wisconsin
Concern about Harris
“She’s a lady.”
Sources and methodology
Selected responses from New York Times/Siena College polls of 4,132 likely voters conducted in September, including 830 undecided or not fully decided voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Undecided and persuadable voters were voters in the survey who either did not pick a presidential candidate after being asked multiple questions about their vote choice or voters who ultimately did pick a candidate but said they were only “probably” but not “definitely” going to support that candidate.
Open-ended responses to the “biggest concern” question were coded into categories using a trained coder and validated with a second reviewer. The primary coder reviewed a sampling of responses and then created an initial coding schema. Categories were adjusted based on size and coherence throughout the process. Where there was disagreement between coders, proposed codes were reviewed, discussed and compared with similar examples in other surveys. To help ensure consistency, responses that exactly matched previous responses in prior surveys were automatically coded to the same category, but were still reviewed for accuracy.
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