WASHINGTON − A new Reuters/Ipsos poll reveals that Vice President Kamala Harris has a narrow lead over former President Donald Trump, with 46% supporting Harris against 43% for Trump. This finding comes as many voters express a negative outlook about the state of the country.

The latest poll, conducted over six days and concluding on Monday, shows little change from a previous poll where Harris was at 45% compared to Trump’s 42%. This suggests a highly competitive race with only two weeks remaining before the November 5 election.

Both polls indicated that Harris’s lead falls within the margin of error, as the latest data shows her ahead by just 2 points when looking at unrounded figures.

Additionally, the latest survey indicates that voters are generally pessimistic about the economy and immigration, with many preferring Trump’s views on these topics.

According to the poll, about 70% of registered voters believe that the cost of living is worsening, 60% think the economy is going in the wrong direction, and 65% express dissatisfaction with immigration policy.

Voters highlighted the economy, immigration, and threats to democracy as critical issues facing the nation. When asked about which candidate is better suited to tackle these issues, Trump outperformed Harris on both the economy (46% to 38%) and immigration (48% to 35%).

Among voters, immigration was identified as the top issue that the next president should prioritize in their first 100 days, with 35% of respondents choosing immigration. Other issues mentioned included income inequality (11%), with healthcare and taxes each receiving 10% of the responses.

However, Trump did not perform as well when addressing political extremism and threats to democracy, where Harris led 42% to 35%. She also had an advantage concerning abortion and healthcare policies.

A Tightly Contested Race

Even if Harris maintains her slim lead into November, it may still not be enough to secure victory.

National surveys, including those from Reuters/Ipsos, provide insight into voter sentiments, but the Electoral College results will determine the election winner. Seven crucial battleground states are expected to be pivotal. In the 2016 election, Trump won the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton by 2 points.

Polling in those battleground areas indicates that Harris and Trump are very closely matched.

The poll also suggests that voter enthusiasm, especially among Democrats, may be higher in this election compared to the November 2020 contest when Joe Biden defeated Trump.

Approximately 79% of registered voters surveyed indicated that they were “completely certain” they would participate in the presidential election, including 87% of Democrats and 84% of Republicans. This level of certainty represents an increase from 74% in a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted from October 23-27, 2020, when 74% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans expressed similar commitment to voting.

The margin of error for this latest poll is 2 percentage points.

Harris officially entered the race in July after President Biden ended his reelection campaign following a less-than-stellar debate performance against Trump in June. During that time, Trump was seen as a frontrunner, mainly due to concerns regarding economic performance amid recent high inflation, which has begun to stabilize in recent months.

Given how close the race is, both candidates will need to motivate their supporters to ensure high voter turnout. Approximately two-thirds of adults in the U.S. participated in the November 2020 election, marking the highest turnout in over a century, according to U.S. Census Bureau and Pew Research Center estimates.

About one-third of registered voters identify as Democrats.

According to an estimate by Pew Research, about one-third of the electorate identifies as Republicans, while the remainder consists of independents or supporters of third parties.

The most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll that sampled 4,129 adults across the United States online, including 3,481 registered voters, recorded that 3,307 respondents were likely to vote on Election Day. Among these potential voters, Harris led Trump by 3 percentage points, with 48% for Harris and 45% for Trump.