Under-40 Poll: On impeachment, young voters are split by party

About the poll

From August 11th till the 18th, Gravis Marketing, a nonpartisan research firm, conducted a random survey of 556 under 40 voters in the United States regarding current issues that impact the political and social landscape. The poll was conducted using Gravis Marketing Internet Panels (47%) and Gravis Automated Calls (53%) on behalf of online media outlet Rare.US. Overall, the poll has a margin of error of ± 5%. The general scope of the Gravis Marketing poll was to capture opinions of registered voters under the age of 40 on political, social, religious, and economic issues. The poll included a group of 54% female registered voters and 46% male voters across the United States. The majority of those polled (39%) stated they were 'independent' voters, while 32% claim to be members of the Democratic Party and 29% registered Republicans.

About Rare

Rare.us, a Cox Media Group property based in Washington, DC, was the fastest growing major media site in the United States in August with nearly 20 million visitors -- 40 times more than the same period a year ago. This unrivaled growth is the result of leveraging social media to discover and distribute the buzzworthy and uplifting content Americans will share with their networks.

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Sixty percent of young, self-identified Republicans say that President Barack Obama should be impeached, compared to only 11 percent of Democrats, according to a new poll conducted for Rare, a Cox Media Group website based in Washington, DC.

Independents are also overwhelmingly opposed to impeachment: only 28 percent of them believe it’s a good idea.

As a whole, that means only one-third of young voters support the impeachment of the president, while 58 percent say he shouldn’t be impeached and a further 10 percent are unsure.

>>Read all of Rare's under-40 poll results

The question was asked as part of a first-of-its-kind Rare poll that surveyed only respondents under 40. The questions were tailored to chart trends in the opinions of younger voters.

During the summer, there was chatter of impeachment after some Republicans, including Sarah Palin, issued the call. Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner dismissed such talk, accusing Democrats of using the issue to raise money.

Respondents were also separated by an age gap. Young voters were less likely to support impeachment—only 29 percent of those ages 18-29 were in favor—but older voters warmed more to the idea. Among those ages 36-40, 43 percent wanted to impeach Obama.

The Rare poll also found that another hypothetical presidential race between Obama and Mitt Romney would result in young voters tied between the two candidates. So while the president’s approval ratings have hovered in the forties in other polls, voters seem to see the ballot box as the solution rather than impeachment.

Republicans cite the Fast and Furious scandal, the Benghazi attack, the IRS targeting scandal, NSA spying and abuses of executive power as reasons to impeach President Obama.

Impeachment must be initiated in the House and passed by a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

The Rare survey was conducted by nonpartisan Gravis Marketing between August 11 and August 18. A total of 556 respondents under age 40 were interviewed over the phone and using Internet panels. Overall, the poll has a margin of error of 5 percent.