According to the survey, 57% of Americans believe voting is a fundamental right for every US citizen that should not be restricted. Out of that 57%, 78% are Democratic or lean Democratic, while 42% believe voting is a privilege that can be limited, with 67% of those Republican or Republican leaning.
African-Americans are more likely to see voting as a fundamental right than any other racial or ethnic group in the US, according to the study. When asked if voting is a fundamental right for all Americans 77% of African-Americans agreed with the statement, as did two thirds of Asian-American and 63% of Hispanic-Americans.
White Americans are divided when it comes to how they view voting rights, with 51% saying that voting is a right and 48% saying it is a privilege.
However, the survey did manage to find a rare, widespread bipartisan agreement on the importance of qualified citizens being allowed to vote, with 94% of American saying it is important that people legally qualified are able to cast their ballot.
While there is agreement on the importance, the view on whether people are being prevented from voting in practice varies. 87% of Republicans are at least somewhat confident anyone qualified to vote is able to, while Democrats express less confidence with only 69% stating they are somewhat confident in their ability to vote.
The survey found another point of general agreement, with 81% of Americans believing it is important to prevent illegal voters from doing so. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to believe it is very important to prevent this, with 78% of Republicans saying it is very important compared to 44% of Democrats.
In contrast, Democrats are more confident that steps are already being taken to prevent people from voting illegally, with 79% of Democrats saying they either somewhat or very confident illegal voting is prevented, while only 30% of Republicans feel the same way.
Democrats and Republicans were similarly divided on this issue in a Pew Research Center survey conducted in October, before the 2020 presidential election in the United States.