Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith will be of little concern to voters when they go to the polls this November, according to a Pew Research Center poll released on Thursday.
The poll found that 60 percent of voters are aware that the Republican nominee is Mormon. Of those correctly identifying Romney’s religion, 80 percent said they are comfortable with his religion or that it doesn’t matter to them.
Those who said they are uncomfortable with Romney’s religion made up only 11 percent of registered voters, when factoring in those who are unaware of his faith.
Most notably, the survey found that Romney’s religion has little impact on voters’ presidential preferences. Republicans and evangelicals overwhelmingly support the former Massachusetts governor, while Democrats and secular people oppose him, regardless of their views of his faith.
The findings directly contradict the speculation, particularly during the GOP primaries, that Romney’s faith would hurt him in the general election.
In fact, the numbers for President Obama are more perplexing. Four years into his presidency, only 49 percent of voters correctly identify Obama as a Christian, while 17 percent persist in the mistaken belief that the president is Muslim. Of those that knew he was a Christian, 82 percent said they were comfortable with his faith.
The poll was conducted June 28 to July 9 via telephone interviews with 2,973 adults, including 2,373 registered voters.
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