According to the survey, conducted on Tuesday by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, "Seventy percent (70%) of Americans say they feel frustrated about this year's presidential election, including roughly equal proportions of Democrats and Republicans."
Of the 1,060 adults polled, 51% claimed to feel "some" confidence in the electoral system, with 38% having "hardly any" confidence, and only 10% feeling a "great deal" of confidence.
Notably, 55% of respondents said they feel helpless in this election and 70% reported being frustrated.
"Few Americans are feeling pride or excitement about the 2016 presidential campaign, but it is grabbing the public's attention," the poll results stated, adding, "Two-thirds (65 percent) of the public say they are interested in the election for president this year; only 31 percent say they are bored. However, only 37 percent are feeling hopeful about the campaign, 23 percent are excited, and just 13 percent say the presidential election makes them feel proud."
Nayef Jaber, a Bernie Sanders supporter in San Rafael, California, said, "It's kind of like a rigged election," and that, "It's supposed to be one man one vote. This is the way it should be."
Just 16% of Republicans are confident in their party, with 29% of Democrats feeling the same way. The fact that presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has never held office doesn’t sway the voters polled, with 57% feeling that his campaign has been good for the party, though they realize Trump is not favored by the party establishment, with 9% saying that Republicans are not open to unestablished politicians. Democrats didn’t fare much better in that category, with 10% echoing the Republican’s sentiments.
The survey’s findings seem to reflect a trend seen across recent polls, showing candidates Trump and Hillary Clinton as almost equally unpopular among voters. One such poll, conducted Tuesday by NBC and Survey Monkey, reported 63% of participants voicing disapproval for Trump and 60% saying the same about Clinton, with nearly one third saying they aren’t voting in support of their party candidate as much as they’re voting against the opposing party’s candidate.
Outside of the presumed frontrunners for the two major parties, the AP/Norc Center survey said, "the entry of Bernie Sanders into the race for the Democratic nomination is not seen as a negative for the party," adding that, "Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of Democrats say Sanders' bid for the nomination has been good for the Democratic Party, along with 43 percent of Republicans and 22 percent of independents. 54 percent of independents report it is neither good nor bad."
Voters also don’t believe that either party is receptive or understanding of what rank and file voters are feeling or are receptive to ideas outside of the party mainstream. In the survey, 10% of people responding to the questionnaire said that Republicans are not open to new ideas and 17% don’t believe Democrats are either.
