Survey shows Arizonans agree on key issues ahead of presidential election

PHOENIX (AZFamily)—Election day is 47 days away, and while the political climate can feel very divisive, a new survey says Arizona voters agree more than disagree on several issues.

The nonpartisan group Center for the Future of Arizona reveals that voters in our state, across political affiliations, are most concerned about partisanship and fair elections.

“One of the things that we found is that Arizonans agree on much more than we disagree on the big important issues that are important to the future of our state,” said Dr. Sybil Francis with the center.

She says the survey found that people in the state share common ground.

“We found around 80% of Arizonans want comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship. They also want a strong border for commerce, and that it should be secure for immigration,” Francis said.

In addition to immigration, other key topics most important to Arizona voters include education, housing and state spending.

However, the voter’s agenda report found most voters don’t believe candidates are addressing those topics.

“Around 60% or so of Arizonans believe our parties are too ideological. That’s even higher among independents. Among independents, close to 70% feel our parties are too ideological,” Francis said.

Most Arizona voters in the survey also want candidates who compromise and work across the aisle.

“When candidates are running for office they have to talk to their most ideological voters in order to get through the primary,” Francis said. “That’s one of the reasons you see there is an effort underway and a ballot initiative, prop 140, to open up the primaries, so that everyone runs in the same primary.”

Five hundred random people took part in the survey. It’s meant to model the likely turnout of voters across party, age, region and gender.

Francis believes it’s a true reflection of voter’s beliefs on both partisanship and fair elections. “Many independents don’t know that they can request a ballot to vote in the partisan primaries.

That means independents vote at about half the rate and 77% of likely voters say everyone should have equal access to the ballot, which would include independents,” Francis said.

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