Few Americans say campaign, policy and voting decisions are based in fact: poll

A new AP-NORC/USAFacts Poll shows that many Americans believe that campaigns, policy decisions and voting are often not completely rooted in the truth, The Associated Press reports.

According to the poll, only 9 percent of Americans think that campaign messages are usually rooted in fact. Fourteen percent believe that lawmakers’ policy decisions and how Americans make voting decisions are based in truth.

The poll also showed that the public is skeptical of the media. Only 21 percent of those surveyed believed that reporting that is done by the media is truthful, with 47 percent of Americans believing that reporting is only sometimes based in fact.

When viewed along party lines, Democrats and Republicans have starkly different opinions. 

Thirty-one percent of Democrats believe that reporting is firmly rooted in the truth, while only 10 percent of Republicans think the same thing.

The poll was conducted Oct. 15-28 and surveyed 1,032 voters. Respondents were randomly sampled and the poll’s margin of error is plus-minus 4.2 percentage points.