NBC News Exit Poll: Voters Split on Whether Criminal Justice System Treats All People Fairly
Voters overall are split on whether they think the criminal system treats all people fairly, according to early results from the NBC News Exit Poll.
Nearly half believe blacks are being treated unfairly, while more than four in 10 believe the criminal justice system is fair to all people.
The issue of racial inequality has long been at the forefront of the American political discussion, but in this election year, tensions have been heightened by controversial deaths of African-Americans during confrontations with law enforcement.
Early results from the poll also find a strong divide between black and white voters about the fairness of the nation’s criminal justice system. White voters are divided on the question, while more than eight in 10 black voters believe the criminal justice treats blacks unfairly. Six in 10 Hispanics agree with blacks that the U.S. criminal justice system is unfair to blacks.
Meet the NBC News Exit Poll Desk Team
Throughout Election Night, a team of survey research analysts will be crunching the numbers on who voted, what issues were on their minds and why they voted the way they did.
The team includes Stephanie Psyllos, manager of exit polling, NBC News; Scott Keeter, senior survey advisor at Pew Research Center; Courtney Kennedy, director of survey research at Pew Research Center; Cary Funk, associate director of research at Pew Research Center; Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute; Maureen Michaels, president of Michaels Opinion Research Inc.; Mara Ostfeld, postdoctoral fellow, Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan; Patrick Egan, associate professor of politics and public policy at New York University; Hannah Hartig, assistant director, University of Pennsylvania's Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies; Jennifer Su, senior project director, Princeton Survey Research Associates International; and Andrew Arenge, assistant producer, NBC News. The NBC News Exit Poll Desk works closely with digital editors David Taintor and Elizabeth Johnstone to curate the stories we produce.