Some voters still say they're undecided in the 2024 election. Here's why.
Less than a week out to Election Day, both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are barnstorming battleground states, trying to reach and persuade undecided voters -- including independents -- to support them.
Independents are often swing voters, who may switch their allegiance from election to election. Statistically, they are a big enough group to make a difference in the results.
In a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll, 13% of independents said they were initially undecided. The poll also found Trump running essentially even with Harris among independents.
ABC News spoke with some of those independent voters who responded to the poll, as well as some undecided or formerly undecided voters who have been in touch with ABC News throughout the year, to get a sense of why they still feel undecided -- or what their decision was in the end.
Some brought up themes and issues that have been salient throughout the election, including the border and abortion.
Phyllis Allen, an independent voter who lives near Mobile, Alabama, and responded to the ABC News/Ipsos poll, told ABC News on Thursday that she is still unsure who she will vote for or if she will cast a vote for president at all.
She is leaning towards Trump, she said, because "when he was in office, the last time, things were better for me and my family -- we've been struggling. it's hard, but since Biden has been in office, it seems like we've been struggling just to pay bills and just to buy groceries." She said she also appreciated how she felt people were prouder to be American when he was president.
But how Trump has often spoken about Christianity has concerned her. Trump has often framed his potential presidency around being better for Christians than a Harris presidency, although he has also reached out towards other religious groups.
"There's so many religions in the United States, that's what the United States was built on … it's not fair to just push one religion," Allen said.
Allen added that she disagrees with Harris on border issues, feeling that if she is struggling to afford groceries or qualify for food stamps, it is unfair for undocumented immigrants to have any government support.
More broadly, she said she feels Harris could have already accomplished her policy proposals: "Kamala Harris has been in there, and she's saying she's gonna do all this stuff, but yet she was already in office. Why didn't she go ahead... Why not now? Why wait until she gets to be president?"
But Allen aligns more with Harris on abortion issues. "Roe versus Wade -- they need to reinstate [it]," she said, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court overruling the decision granting a constitutional right to abortion in the United States.
"I mean, I don't personally believe in abortion, but it's not my decision to tell someone else what they could do," Allen said, later bringing up (albeit not by name) the story of Kate Cox, a woman who had to leave her home state of Texas to get an abortion to protect her health.
"A lot of Christian churches and stuff like that, they all say it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong -- but it's not their place to tell a woman what's wrong or right."
Benjamin, an independent voter from Texas who also responded to the ABC News/Ipsos poll, said that he is leaning towards Trump but still trying to come to a final decision. (He asked that ABC News not publish his last name for privacy reasons.)
"I care a little bit more about my financial situation. And so, back when Trump was president, I remember that things were a lot cheaper for me than compared to when Biden was, but then at the same time, I don't agree with a lot of I don't agree with a lot of the way Trump thinks," he said, adding he agrees a bit more with how Harris thinks, although not on every issue.
Benjamin plans to try to vote early, although as a student who works part-time at a department store, he does not know if he'll be able to get to the polls before Election Day.
He said he tries to ignore the news, and feels news outlets are often biased, so he prefers to do his own research. He does not plan to vote down the ballot in Texas, which is also home to a hotly contested U.S. Senate race.
What could sway him to Trump or Harris? For Trump, he said, he'd have to find something positive that "really sways me toward him in that way," while for Harris, he is looking for her not to be "too extreme" on issues such as immigration and abortion. (He said he believes in restricting illegal immigration but does want the border "to be more open and make it easier for people to come over.")
Separately from the independents who responded to the ABC News/Ipsos poll, some of the undecided voters who have been in touch with ABC News throughout the presidential election season said that they've made a decision while others still feel conflicted.
Rebecca Bakker, a registered nursing professor who lives near Grand Rapids, Michigan, had already decided against voting for Trump but has not felt compelled yet towards Harris or any third-party candidates.
She told ABC News on Wednesday, "I'm leaning libertarian, but I don't know by casting a libertarian vote is going to hurt or help either one of them." (Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver is on the ballot in Michigan. Bakker said she is compelled by the party's platform but not by its ticket specifically. )
She is still unhappy with Harris' position on the border.
"I think she's got to demonstrate that she's willing to work with both sides and maybe choke on the wall a little bit to avoid getting another influx of illegal immigrants. But she doesn't seem willing to even bend on that issue or willing to work with the other side," Bakker said.
Bakker acknowledged Harris is walking "a fine line" on how she can differentiate herself from Biden.
"I think she's struggling with separating herself from Joe Biden and making a name for Kamala Harris… I think that's what's going to drive a lot of people away from her."
Conversely, on the Israel-Hamas war, Bakker indicated that her views are to the left of Harris' support of continued military funding to Israel.
"I understand Israel has a right to defend itself, but I'm really concerned that they continue to supply them with money and weapons when all the Israelis are doing are killing Palestinians in the hopes of finding one bad Hamas guy... So I don't understand this impetus to continue to fund that particular war because they're not making any progress," Bakker said.
Bakker said she may try to vote early, but may be more available on Election Day.
"Her closing arguments haven't quite pushed me over the edge," Bakker said of Harris. "I'm not going to vote for Donald Trump. It's not going to happen, but a vote for Harris… I'll probably be forced to do it. I'm going to do it under duress, and hopefully we can dig out later. But she hasn't done anything to actually convince me that that's the best option."
Matthew Labkovski, a Republican voter from Florida who supported former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley during the Republican presidential primaries, was still undecided as of early October. By now, he told ABC News in a phone interview on Wednesday, he's voted -- but "just felt that I couldn't personally come to either candidate," and wrote in Haley.
Asked what Harris or Trump could have done differently to reach out to voters like him, Labkovski said he wished Harris had chosen Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate. Shapiro was among the final rumored contenders before Harris chose Walz.
As for Trump -- who he had previously decided not to vote for -- Labkovski said he was looking for Trump to acknowledge shortcomings.
"Maybe an apology, or some sense of remorse for anything -- not anything in particular, just that he was, he's human … things happen because things happen as a president, and I don't want someone who thinks that it's not their fault."
Labkovski did vote down the ballot for the Democratic Senate candidate, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, which he said was more as a "wake-up call" vote to incumbent Republican Sen. Rick Scott, and voted yes on Amendment 4, the proposition that would enshrine abortion access in the state's constitution. That would effectively overturn the state's 6-week abortion ban.
"I believe that it provides choice," he said, adding that as someone who plans to work in medicine, "I think that there needs to be an opportunity for choice and for discussion."
Editor's note: This story has been updated.
