Nearly three in five registered voters in Florida favor expanding abortion access via ballot measure

Washington, DC, April 13, 2024 – After the Florida Supreme Court allowed a six-week abortion ban to go into effect, the latest USA Today/Ipsos poll finds that most registered voters in Florida say they would vote to expand abortion access through a 2024 ballot measure. A similar share of registered voters in Florida say they would vote to legalize recreational cannabis through a different 2024 ballot measure. Ahead of the 2024 election, this poll finds that Florida Democrats are generally less enthusiastic about voting in the November presidential election compared to Republicans. Additionally, few Floridians say they have heard of the main Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, compared to incumbent Republican Senator Rick Scott. When it comes to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Floridians are split in their approval of him, and only about one-third say they approve of how he is handling abortion and contraception issues.

Key Findings

1. Most Floridians oppose a 6-week abortion ban. A majority of Florida registered voters say they would vote to expand access to abortion via the November 2024 ballot measure.

• More than half (55%) of Floridians say they oppose a national 6-week abortion ban, and just 23% say they support it.
• That said, sixty-four percent of Floridians say they are familiar with the Florida Supreme Court allowing a six-week abortion ban to go into effect.
• Further, just a bare majority (50%) say they are familiar with the Florida Supreme Court allowing a 2024 ballot measure to add legal abortion protections to the Florida constitution.
• When asked about the 2024 Florida ballot measure that would make abortion legal up until fetal viability, 57% of registered voters in Florida say they would vote in favor of abortion legality and 36% say they would vote against it. Just 6% say they are unsure.
• Sentiments around the abortion ballot measure vary by party affiliation: 78% of Democrats, 63% of independents, and 34% of Republicans who are registered voters say they would vote in favor of Florida abortion legality this November. Nearly three in five (59%) Republican registered voters say they would vote against it, compared to just 28% of independents and 18% of Democrats.
• There are no significant differences in support for the state abortion ballot measure by gender, age, or region, but white Floridians are more likely than Hispanic Floridians to say they would vote in support of the measure (57% vs. 34%, respectively). Conversely, Hispanic Floridians are more likely to say they would vote in opposition of the measure compared to white Floridians (42% vs. 32%, respectively).

2. A similar share of Florida registered voters say they would vote to legalize recreational cannabis on the November 2024 ballot measure.

• Just over half (54%) of Floridians say they are familiar with the Florida Supreme Court’s decision to put recreational cannabis on the 2024 ballot.
• Fifty-six percent of registered voters in Florida say they would vote in favor of legalizing recreational cannabis on the 2024 ballot measure. Two in five say they would vote against it, and just 4% say they are unsure.
• As with the ballot measure on abortion, sentiments around legalizing recreational cannabis vary by party affiliation: 69% of Democrats, 63% of independents, and 39% of Republicans who are registered voters in Florida say they would vote in favor of it. Fifty-nine percent of Republicans, 31% of independents, and 24% of Democrats who are registered to vote say they would vote in opposition.
• Adults in central Florida are more likely to say they are in favor of legalizing recreational cannabis than those in north or south Florida (54% vs. 49% and 38%, respectively). Notably, Floridians in Broward County or Palm Beach County are more likely than those in Miami-Dade County to say they would vote in favor of legalizing recreational cannabis (47% vs. 30%, respectively).
• There are no differences in self-reported plans to vote for recreational cannabis legalization by gender or age, however, as with the abortion ballot measure, white Floridians are more likely than Hispanic Floridians to say they would vote in favor of recreational marijuana legalization this November (55% vs. 32%, respectively).

3. Floridians are split on their approval of Governor Ron DeSantis, but his approval rating on the issue of abortion is low. Overall, Democrats are less enthusiastic about voting compared to Republicans, and very few are familiar with the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.

• Forty-four percent of Floridians say they approve of the way DeSantis is handling his job as governor, and 48% say they disapprove. Republicans are more likely than independents and Democrats to say they approve of DeSantis’ job performance (88% vs. 37% and 13%, respectively).
• When asked about how DeSantis is handling various issues, a bare majority say they approve of his handling of crime (52%) and the economy (50%). However, just 34% approve of how he is handling abortion and contraception issues. Fifty-one percent say they disapprove, and 36% say they strongly disapprove.
• Floridians are more likely to say they have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of DeSantis than former President Donald Trump (47% vs. 42%, respectively).
• Three in five (62%) Floridians say they are completely certain they will vote in the upcoming presidential election, including 80% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats, and 51% of independents.
• With the upcoming U.S. Senate race in Florida this November, the majority (74%) of Floridians say they have never heard of the main Democratic candidate, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Floridians are more familiar with incumbent Republican Senator Rick Scott, as only 13% say they have never heard of him.
• Despite higher familiarity around Scott than Mucarsel-Powell, only 37% of Floridians say they have a favorable opinion of Scott. A plurality (48%) say they have an unfavorable opinion of him.

About the Study

This USA Today/Ipsos poll was conducted April 5-7, 2024 using Ipsos’ probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll, fielded in English and Spanish, is based on a representative probability sample of 1,014 general population adults aged 18 or older currently residing in Florida. The sample includes 369 Republicans, 264 Democrats, and 316 independents.

The margin of sampling error for this study is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.74. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on other sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent. The poll also has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 6.4 percentage points for Republicans, plus or minus 7.9 percentage points for Democrats, and plus or minus 7.3 percentage points for independents. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which is 1.59 among Republicans, 1.69 among Democrats, and 1.74 among independents.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult U.S. population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, household income, metropolitan status, English language dominance, and 2020 vote. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS). 2020 vote benchmarks came from the Division of Elections at the Florida Department of State. More details about the weighting benchmarks for this study can be found below:

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45–59, and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other or 2+ Races Non-Hispanic, Hispanic)
• Education (High School graduate or less, Some College, Bachelors and beyond)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
• English language dominance (English dominant, Bilingual, Spanish dominant, non-Hispanic)
• 2020 vote (Trump, Biden, Someone else, Did not vote)

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson

Senior Vice President, US

Public Affairs

+1 202 420-2025

[email protected]

Mallory Newall

Vice President, U.S.

Public Affairs

+1 202 374-2613

[email protected]

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