A worked example of an issue poll, including how we define a term before asking about it.
By Integrity Polling research staff
Sample data. This release is a demonstration of our reporting template. No survey was fielded. Every number on this page is illustrative.
Support for ranked-choice voting, after a neutral description
U.S. adults, n = 1,504.
Whiskers show ±2.9 percentage points, the margin of sampling error.
Integrity Polling, Aug 27–Sep 2, 2026. n = 1,504 u.s. adults. Question Q2.
Ranked-choice voting by party identification
Support and oppose combine strong and somewhat. Independents include those who lean to neither party.
Integrity Polling, Aug 27–Sep 2, 2026. n = 1,504 u.s. adults. Question Q2 × D5.
Signature requirements for independent and third-party candidates
U.S. adults. Should they be the same as, higher than, or lower than for major-party candidates?
Integrity Polling, Aug 27–Sep 2, 2026. n = 1,504 u.s. adults. Question Q4.
Prior awareness of ranked-choice voting
Asked before the description in Q2.
Integrity Polling, Aug 27–Sep 2, 2026. n = 1,504 u.s. adults. Question Q1.
Support is broad but shallow. A 58–29 margin in favor of ranked-choice voting looks commanding until you notice that only 27 percent strongly support it and 38 percent had heard nothing about it before we described it. Opinion formed in the course of a survey question is real opinion, but it is soft opinion, and we report it that way.
The partisan gap is real and smaller than the rhetoric. Republicans are 22 points less supportive than Democrats, but a 46–41 split is a divided party, not a unified opposition. Independents land closer to Democrats than to Republicans.
Ballot access is not a partisan question. Sixty-four percent of adults think independent and third-party candidates should face the same signature thresholds as major-party nominees. That figure moves by fewer than six points across party, age, region, and education, which is about as close to consensus as American public opinion gets.
Knowing more does not mean liking it less. Among people who had heard “a lot” about ranked-choice voting, support is 63 percent, higher than among people who knew nothing. The familiar pattern of “the more they know, the less they like it” does not appear here, although opposition also rises with awareness, because awareness mostly eliminates “not sure.”
Issue polls live or die on the description. Ours was written to be neutral, reviewed by people on both sides of the question, and we rotated the order of the response options so “support” was not always read first. You can read the exact text in the question wording below, and the reviewers’ edits are logged in the questionnaire download. If you think the description tilts the result, tell us at the address on the About page; we publish substantive wording critiques alongside the release.
The headline question broken out by group. The CSV includes every question and the unweighted n for every column.
| Response | Democrat | Republican | Independent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support (strongly + somewhat) | 68% | 46% | 61% |
| Oppose (strongly + somewhat) | 18% | 41% | 24% |
| Not sure | 14% | 13% | 15% |
| Unweighted n | 512 | 468 | 524 |
Bold marks the largest share in each row. Columns may not sum to 100 because of rounding. The overall margin of error is ±2.9 points; subgroup margins are larger and grow as the unweighted n shrinks.
Exactly as respondents heard or read it. Bracketed text is interviewer instruction. Rotations are noted where they occurred.
Before today, how much, if anything, had you heard about ranked-choice voting: a lot, a little, or nothing at all?
Some places have adopted a system called ranked-choice voting. Instead of choosing one candidate, voters rank the candidates in order of preference. If no candidate gets a majority of first choices, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their voters' next choices are counted, until one candidate has a majority. Based on what you know, do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose using ranked-choice voting for elections in your state?
The description was reviewed by advocates and opponents of ranked-choice voting before fielding; both sides' edits are logged in the questionnaire download. Half the sample heard 'support' options first, half heard 'oppose' options first.
In your own words, what is the main reason you feel that way?
Open-ended; coded responses are in the crosstab file as Q3_CODED.
To appear on the ballot, candidates usually have to collect a certain number of voter signatures. Do you think the signature requirements for independent and third-party candidates should be the same as for Democratic and Republican candidates, higher than for Democratic and Republican candidates, or lower?
In general, do you think the United States would be better off with more than two major political parties, or is two about right?
Results for Q5 are in the crosstab download and will be the subject of a separate analysis post.
Demographic items: age, gender, race and ethnicity, education, ZIP code, party identification with leaners, and 2024 vote. Exact wording is in the questionnaire download.
Percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding. The margin of error for subgroups is larger than the overall margin. In addition to sampling error, question wording, order and practical difficulties in fielding surveys can introduce error or bias; we publish every question in the order asked so you can judge for yourself.
Paste this into your page. The frame stays current if we issue a correction, and always links back to the full release.
<iframe src="https://integritypolling.com/embed/sample-national-ranked-choice-ballot-access/" title="Demonstration release: Americans on ranked-choice voting and ballot access — Integrity Polling" width="100%" height="440" style="border:1px solid #E4E0EA;border-radius:8px" loading="lazy"></iframe>In this illustrative pilot, the Institutional Trust Index reads 41 on a 0–100 scale and the Representation Index reads 31. Local election officials are the most trusted institution tested; Congress the least. Thirty-eight percent of adults say neither major party represents them.
Among likely voters in a hypothetical statewide race, Maria Delgado (D) leads Thomas Reed (R) 44–40, with Libertarian Alicia Park at 7 and Green Devon Okafor at 2. The lead sits just inside the margin of error.