VOA: The US presidential election and women's vote, what the polls show

Polls show a close race between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. As VOA correspondent Dora McCourt reports, Vice President Harris enjoys a significant lead over her opponent among women, who have a higher turnout rate than men.

Since 1984, women have had a greater turnout than men in voting for the White House. The data shows that women tend to vote for Democrats. President Biden's July withdrawal from the race put Ms. Harris in the lead, further rousing interest among women voters.

The Voice of America spoke with Erin Convey, of the independent organization "The Cook Political Report", which analyzes political trends, elections and political campaigns in the United States.

“We've noticed a pretty significant difference in a lot of different demographics. But especially among women, who are now more likely to vote for the Democratic candidate than when Mr. Biden was running."

Roughly one in five women say abortion rights are top issues for them. In 2022, Supreme Court members appointed under President Donald Trump helped eliminate constitutional rights to abortion. Candidate Trump says US states should have their own abortion laws. On the other hand, Harris, a Democrat, says federal laws should protect abortion rights across the country.

"She's trying to create a world where all people have the freedom to make decisions about themselves and their bodies. To make their own choices. Women's rights," says Chloe Longmire from the state of Wisconsin.

Leticia Guillen is a voter in the state of Arizona.

"I like the message that it is for the people, for the middle class, which includes me. And women's rights laws.”

The latest polls show that Ms. Harris leads among women voters by about 9 to 13 points more than Mr. Trump. Paul Maslin is a surveyor.

"She has won the support of women under the age of 50 who do not belong to any party. Many women under 40 are impressed by her candidacy.”

Erin Covey with The Cook Political Report agrees.

“Black women are more likely to vote for Ms. Harris now. We have noticed that it has better support among specific racial or educated groups. Mainly this is seen in women, this change is coming from this group."

"First of all, her candidacy is something illogical because first of all, she has no preparation to be president," says T. Stanley, a supporter of candidate Trump in Georgia.

"All of a sudden, Kamala Harris is the nominee of the Democratic Party, because she was never going to win the nomination in the first place, and it suddenly happened," said Alex Lustig, a voter in the state of Montana.

The gender gap is noticeable among young voters, with the majority of men under the age of 27 supporting Mr. Trump, according to pollster David McLennan.

"There has been an increase in admiration among young people of what is known as Generation Z."

Mr McLennan says young people get their cues from online sources, where they often see and hear unfavorable opinions about women leaders.

"They believe that women cannot make the difficult decisions about whether the United States was involved in war or faced with an international crisis. They don't believe that women have the ability to be tough, to make a difficult decision."

White women were key to Mr. Trump's victory in 2016. He also won a majority of their votes in 2020. Recent polls show that Democrat Harris and Republican Trump enjoy equal support among white women.