2010 Voters' Views on Lawsuits

On Election Night 2010, ILR commissioned Public Opinion Strategies to conduct this voter survey examining voters' perceptions of lawsuits and their desire for the next Congress to reform the lawsuit system.

SUMMARY

Public Opinion Strategies conducted a survey of 1,000 actual voters who voted in the 2010 midterm election nationally on Election Night (November 2, 2010) to examine voters’ perceptions of lawsuits and their desire for the next Congress to reform the lawsuit system.¹ The results of the survey show that a majority of voters believe the current civil lawsuit system is not working well; overwhelmingly say that the next Congress should reform the lawsuit system; and indicate that they would have a more favorable impression of the new GOP majority and be more likely to vote for their own Member of Congress if reforms to end lawsuit abuse are implemented. In addition, voters tell us they believe that small business owners ought to have their ideas and viewpoints taken into account in Washington to a far greater degree than those of trial lawyers.

¹ Methodology: On November 2, 2010, Public Opinion Strategies completed 1,000 telephone interviews with actual voters throughout the nation. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.10%.