A new survey says that evangelicals are the least engaged with the presidential election compared to other religious groups.
According to the survey from the Barna Group, less than one third of registered voters are following the election “very closely.” Among evangelicals, however, only one out of five are doing so.
Voters who associate with other faiths such as Judaism, Islam and Buddhism reported the highest level of engagement with the presidential election. Forty one percent said they were following the news closely.
According to The Christian Post, the study also found that evangelicals surveyed acknowledged that the outcome of the election would be “extremely important to the future of the United States.” Seventy eight percent of evangelicals said the election is extremely important.
"Nobody expected 17 candidates to seek the GOP nomination. Nobody expected Donald Trump to be taken seriously by Republican voters, much less to emerge as the man to beat," said analyst George Barna in the survey.
"Nobody expected the last two credible Republican candidates to be those representing the Washington outsiders. Nobody expected a democratic socialist to give Hillary Clinton serious competition. Nobody expected so many evangelicals to back a Republican candidate whose lifestyle has consistently conflicted with their values. Nobody expected the televised debates to draw such record-breaking audiences. And the list goes on."
Other findings in the survey:
- 36 percent of religious skeptics are engaged in election news
- 38 percent of Catholic voters are engaged in election news
- 26 percent of Protestants are engaged in election news
Publication date: March 29, 2016