Update: How Important is Impeachment to Voters? Very.

In a December 5 piece in The New York Times, Lynn Vavreck, John Sides, and Chris Tausanovitch shared Nationscape^™ data and analysis on how Republicans and Democrats prioritize impeachment among top issues. On December 19, they responded to reader requests with additional related findings from independent voters.

Partisan perspectives. Preventing the impeachment of President Donald Trump is the highest priority for Republican voters and impeaching the President is the second highest for Democratic voters, according to new research by Lynn Vavreck, John Sides, and Chris Tausanovitch. They analyzed Nationscape’s conjoint experiments — a common methodology among marketers that reveals how consumers prioritize different characteristics of products — to see how voters prioritized over 40 different policies. With data on 110,000 people to date, the experiments show us how voters prioritize issues like tax cuts for the middle class, restricting abortion, or increasing oil and gas drilling — and whether or not to impeach President Trump. The conclusion?

“What the Nationscape data reveal is clear: Impeachment is a top priority for almost everyone, regardless of whether they are in favor of it or against it.”

New: Independent views. Using the same conjoint experiment method, the team revealed that independent voters care deeply about impeachment, as well. In fact, impeachment is their most important issue, and 55 percent support impeaching the president. Family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border is their second most prioritized issue, and 84 percent oppose it.

To see how Americans are prioritizing some of today’s most pressing issues, read the full original piece and update on independent voters on The New York Times' Upshot.

Lauren Strayer is Managing Director for Communications and Network at the Democracy Fund.

Views expressed by Lynn Vavreck, Chris Tausanovitch, and John Sides are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the collective Voter Study Group.