{"id":2485,"date":"2026-06-17T14:03:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2485"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:03:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:03:55","slug":"most-americans-see-freedoms-under-threat-but-core-to-nations-identity-ap-norc-poll-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2485","title":{"rendered":"Most Americans see freedoms under threat but core to nation\u2019s identity, AP-NORC poll finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON<\/strong> | Most Americans believe civil liberties like the right to vote are under threat, according to a new AP-NORC poll, while also continuing to agree that the rights expressed in the nation\u2019s founding documents are still core to American identity.<\/p>\n

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that most Americans across demographics believe the right to vote, the right to free speech and freedom of religion are integral to the country. But they were more divided on the importance of the right to bear arms, and few \u2014 about one-third or less \u2014 saw those rights as safe from threats.<\/p>\n

The survey, which was conducted April 16-20 \u2014 before the Supreme Court\u2019s recent ruling that winnowed a section of the Voting Rights Act \u2014 highlights an enduring consensus among Americans that personal freedoms are vital to the country\u2019s national identity. But it also reveals deep anxieties about the nation\u2019s trajectory on the cusp of a summer filled with celebrations of the country\u2019s semi-quincentennial birthday.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cOur idea of rights has been very consistent in this country until the last few years,\u201d said Louise Rochon, 85, of Connecticut. \u201cNow, they\u2019re all under threat. Every single last one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Americans see rights as vital, but threatened<\/strong><\/p>\n

About 9 in 10 Americans say the right to vote is \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery\u201d important to the United States\u2019 identity, the poll found. About the same proportion of Americans consider freedom of speech to be highly important to the country\u2019s identity. Meanwhile, about 8 in 10 Americans consider freedom of religion to be core to the national identity, while about 6 in 10 Americans consider the right to keep or bear arms as highly important to the nation\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

But many in the country see those same principles as imperiled today. About two-thirds of Americans view the right to vote as under some threat, with about one-third saying voting rights are under \u201cmajor threat\u201d while about 3 in 10 said they faced a \u201cminor threat.\u201d Only about one-third of Americans said voting rights faced \u201cno threat at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, nearly half of Americans say freedom of speech is under major threat, followed by about 3 in 10 who said the same about gun rights and religious freedom.<\/p>\n

The country is going \u201cdown the drain,\u201d said Tracy Gonzales, an independent from San Antonio, Texas. Americans of all stripes, she said, have \u201cthrown religion to the side at the moment\u201d and allowed for other civil liberties to be eroded amid fierce debates over immigration and the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven everything going on with our president, you really don\u2019t have time to think of anything else,\u201d said Gonzales, 37, of President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration crackdowns. \u201cThere are so many other crimes that are being committed and people that actually need help, and you\u2019re focused on the ones that are trying to get it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vast majority of Black Americans see threat to voting rights<\/strong><\/p>\n

The poll\u2019s results also surfaced complicated opinions about democracy and identity among Black Americans. Those are likely rooted, at least in part, in the country\u2019s history of denying voting rights and full citizenship to people of African descent for centuries.<\/p>\n

Black Americans are less likely than white Americans to say the right to vote is \u201cextremely\u201d or \u201cvery important\u201d to American identity, with about three-quarters agreeing with the sentiment compared to about 9 in 10 white Americans.<\/p>\n

But about 4 in 10 Black Americans say that the right to vote is facing a \u201cmajor\u201d threat in the country today, higher than any other racial group.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot feel like you are a total and full part of the American experiment unless you have the right to vote,\u201d said Antonio Williams, a school administrator in Dallas, Texas, who is Black. \u201cAnd African Americans didn\u2019t fully get to enjoy the right to vote until about 60 years ago, and I feel like it\u2019s under threat right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Younger adults see the right to vote as less important<\/strong><\/p>\n

Independents and younger adults are less likely than Americans overall to say voting and freedom of speech are central to American identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy age group has grown up a lot more with social media as part of their existence in life and the microcosms that that creates in politics,\u201d said Julian Goodwin-Ferris, 28, a professional dancer from New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we feel more like our voice doesn\u2019t matter as much because it feels like we\u2019ve grown up with our rights sort of being more ignored,\u201d said Goodwin-Ferris.<\/p>\n

Democrats and Republicans are divided on magnitude of threat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Americans at times diverged along partisan lines in their view of the threats to rights, with Democrats seeing a greater threat to freedom of speech, while Republicans were more worried about the right to keep and bear arms.<\/p>\n

While Democrats and Republicans are similarly likely to say freedom of speech is at least \u201cvery important\u201d to the nation\u2019s identity, about 6 in 10 Democrats say freedom of speech is facing a \u201cmajor threat\u201d compared to about 4 in 10 independents and roughly one-third of Republicans.<\/p>\n

Similarly, while most Americans believe the right to bear arms is at least \u201cvery\u201d important to the nation\u2019s identity, about 8 in 10 Republicans agree with that sentiment, compared to only about 4 in 10 Democrats. About half of independents shared that view. And about 4 in 10 Republicans found that the right to bear firearms was under threat, an increase from October 2025 not reflected among either Democrats or independents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the Bill of Rights for a reason,\u201d said Nuri Simmons, a warehouse worker in New York and a registered Democrat. Simmons, 31, said that threats to different rights \u201cbleed into each other\u201d and that while he was most concerned about threats to voting rights today, he understood that others may feel differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike when people try to bring some gun control into it, I think some people look at that as an attack on their rights. I guess that all depends on your politics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC\u2019s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.<\/p>\n

Read more G7 leaders back Trump\u2019s plan to end Iran war that faces skepticism at home<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Iran to receive $300 billion in aid under US accord<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more The cost to overcome a Trump endorsement? $100 million. Plus more takeaways from Tuesday\u2019s primaries<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON | Most Americans believe civil liberties like the right to vote are under threat, according to a new AP-NORC poll, while also continuing to agree that the rights expressed in the nation\u2019s founding documents are still core to American identity. 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