Conducted between Oct. 14-21 among voters who registered after the 2000 presidential election, the survey found pessimism especially high among minorities.
Just 18 percent of blacks think the country is headed in the right direction while 76 percent think it is on the wrong track; 31 percent of Latinos are optimistic but 58 percent are pessimistic.
Sixty percent of new voters between the ages of 26 and 30 say the country is on the wrong track.
Even so, "America's newest voters may be its most enthusiastic," said poll director Jonathan Trichter. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 representing those who definitely will not vote and 10 as certain to vote, 83 percent of new voters say they're a 10.
And new voters trust America's electoral process, with 79 percent "very" or "somewhat" confident that their votes will be counted fairly and accurately.
The draft may be a wild-card issue among first-time voters, with 56 percent "very" or "somewhat" worried about the reinstitution of the draft and 42 percent not concerned. Minorities are most likely to be concerned about a potential draft, more than a third of new voters aged 17 to 30 are "very concerned" about it and 30 percent are "somewhat" concerned.
About 48 percent favor Bush in a head-to-head race, and 44 percent favor Kerry. Bush's support in the group has climbed 8 points since the previous Pace Poll/Rock the Vote survey in July while Kerry's support has slipped 6 points. Seven percent remain undecided.
Copyright 2004 by United Press International
