ESSENCE, Black Women’s Roundtable Release 2024 “Power Of The Sister Vote” Poll On The Issues That Matter To Black Women

As the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election approaches, Black Women’s Roundtable (BWR) and ESSENCE have released the annual “Power of The Sister Vote” poll, a survey of Black women voters on the issues that matter most to them.  

This is the ninth year that BWR and ESSENCE have partnered, and this year’s survey with findings from HIT Strategies polled 800 Black women voters nationwide from February 16-21.

The results show that economic anxieties remain top of mind for Black women voters in 2024, with a particular focus on the cost of living, as 56% of respondents said they feel that economic conditions in the country have gotten worse, and over half of them say they feel they are falling behind economically.

A majority of Black women (47%) across generations are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, up 18 points since 2022, primarily due to cost of living concerns. 

The poll also found there is a clear “generational gap within the Black women electorate with older Black women voters locked in and motivated to vote while younger Black women voters are weighing their options.”

Ultimately, according to the poll, Black women voters feel the most critical issues in the 2024 elections are inflation, the economy and gun violence reduction.

Other key findings of the “Power of The Sister Vote” poll include the following : 

• “Tackling inflation and bringing down costs” took the top spot(39%) as the most important issue for the 2024 elections. 

• “Reducing the cost of living” was the top concern with 86% of respondents ranking it at least an nine in importance on a scale of 0-10.

• Gun violence was also a top issue of concern, as 29% of respondents said that reducing gun violence and expanding gun safety laws should be a focus of the 2024 election.

• 88% of Black women support reproductive freedom.

• 62% of the respondents said they were more likely to support a candidate running for office if they were committed to supporting racial justice. 

• According to the poll, “Black women voters think the Democratic Party is much better than the Republican Party on a host of issues, especially when it comes to protecting their rights, freedoms, and equality,” with 66% believing that the party “fights for women’s rights.” 

BWR and ESSENCE released the poll earlier this month in conjunction with BWR’s 13th Annual BWR Women of Power National Summit (BWR Summit’ 24). 

The Black Women’s Roundtable is a program of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, a nonprofit organization focused on engaging, educating, organizing and mobilizing African Americans of all ages to participate in democratic processes.