Most Americans Want To Limit Terms of Senators and House Members

For Immediate Release
United States Public Opinion Poll
Page 1 of 6
TERM LIMITS
Most Americans Want to Limit Terms

of Senators and House Members
But most people agree with current two-term limit for presidents.
[NEW YORK – Aug. 12, 2010] – A majority of

Americans think federal legislators should not be KEY FINDINGS
allowed to serve an unlimited amount of years in
Congress, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll  64% support limiting U.S. Senators to
has found. one or two six-year terms
In the online survey of a representative national  47% would limit Members of the House
sample of 1,002 American adults, 31 per cent of to three terms (six years)
respondents say Senators should only serve for a
single six-year term; 33 per cent would limit  20% back limiting presidential terms to
Senatorial terms to two six-year periods; and nine one four-year mandate; 61% satisfied
per cent would grant them a maximum of three with current limit of two mandates
terms in office.
Full topline results are at the end of this release.
Only 16 per cent of Americans support the current
regulations, which allow Senators to serve as From August 4 to August 5, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion
conducted an online survey among 1,002 American adults who
many terms as they want. are Springboard America panelists. The margin of error—which
measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%. The results have
The appetite for limiting the terms of Members of been statistically weighted according to the most current
the House of Representatives is also high. Almost education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a
sample representative of the entire adult population of the
half of Americans (47%) would limit lower house United States.
lawmakers to three terms (or six years); and 19
per cent would prefer to have six-term tenures (or
12 years in office).
Again, only 16 per cent of Americans support keeping the status quo of no term limits.
Presidents of the United States can currently serve a maximum of two four-year terms in office. Three-in-
five respondents (61%) agree with this regulation. However, a one-in-five Americans (20%) believe that
CONTACT:
Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs, 604-647-3570, mario.canseco@angus-reid.com
Page 2 of 6
presidents should only be allowed to serve for one term. A tenth of respondents (10%) would lift all
presidential term limits.
Party Lines
Only 12 per cent of Independents agree with the notion of allowing both Senators and Members of the
House of Representatives to serve as many terms as they want, compared to 18 per cent of Republicans
and 22 per cent of Democrats.
Democrats (16%) are more likely than Republicans (5%) and Independents (7%) to call for lifting
presidential term limits.
For all our polls, go to our website / Follow us on Twitter
CONTACT:
Page 3 of 6
Term Limits
At this time, the President of the United States can be elected to serve for two four-year terms. Thinking
about this, which one of these options would you prefer?
Region Party ID
Total Northeast Midwest South West Democrat Republican Independent
Limiting the
President to one 20% 20% 21% 19% 19% 14% 25% 23%
four-year term
Keeping the current

regulations that
allow Presidents to 61% 59% 66% 59% 60% 65% 66% 61%
serve for two four-
year terms
Lifting term limits

and allowing
Presidents to serve 10% 15% 8% 9% 9% 16% 5% 7%
as many terms as
they want
Not sure 10% 6% 6% 13% 13% 5% 5% 9%
CONTACT:
Page 4 of 6
Term Limits
At this time, U.S. Senators can be elected to serve as many six-year terms as they want. Thinking about
this, which one of these options would you prefer?
Region Party ID
Limiting U.S.
Senators to one six- 31% 34% 33% 31% 28% 29% 32% 36%
year term
Limiting U.S.
Senators to two six- 33% 32% 36% 32% 34% 33% 36% 33%
year terms
Limiting U.S.
Senators to three 9% 8% 6% 10% 12% 9% 8% 12%
six-year terms
Keeping the current

regulations that
allow U.S. Senators 16% 16% 19% 15% 15% 22% 18% 12%
to serve as many
terms as they want
Not sure 10% 9% 7% 13% 11% 7% 6% 8%
CONTACT:
Page 5 of 6
Term Limits
At this time, members of the House of Representatives can be elected to serve as many two-year terms
as they want. Thinking about this, which one of these options would you prefer?
Region Party ID
Limiting members of
the House of
Representatives to 47% 49% 49% 45% 44% 44% 51% 49%
six-year tenures
(three terms)
Limiting members of
the House of
12-year tenures (six
terms)
Limiting members of
the House of
18-year tenures (nine
terms)
Keeping the current

regulations that
allow members of
the the House of 16% 17% 18% 15% 17% 22% 18% 12%
Representatives to
serve as many terms
as they want
Not sure 13% 10% 10% 15% 15% 10% 7% 11%
CONTACT:
Page 6 of 6
Angus Reid Public Opinion is a practice of Vision Critical—a global research and technology
company specializing in custom online panels, private communities, and innovative online methods.
Vision Critical is a leader in the use of the Internet and rich media technology to collect high-quality,
in-depth insights for a wide array of clients. Dr. Angus Reid and the Angus Reid Strategies team are
pioneers in online research methodologies, and have been conducting online surveys since 1995
Vision Critical is now one of the largest market research enterprises in the world. In addition to its five
offices in Canada—located in Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Toronto, and Montreal—the firm also has
offices in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, London, Paris and Sydney. Its team of specialists
provides solutions across every type and sector of research, and currently serves over 200
international clients.
Angus Reid Public Opinion polls are conducted using the Angus Reid Forum
(www.angusreidforum.com), Springboard America (www.springboardamerica.com) and Springboard
UK (www.springboarduk.com) online panels, which are carefully recruited to ensure representation
across all demographic and psychographic segments of these populations. Panel members pass
through rigorous screening and a double opt-in process ensuring highly motivated and responsive
members. These premier online survey platforms present respondents with highly visual, interactive,
and engaging surveys, ensuring that panel members provide thoughtful and reliable responses.
Each survey is actively sampled and weighted to model that characteristics of the universe required
and employs the latest in quality control techniques to ensure data validity.
Angus Reid, the only public opinion firm to exclusively use online methods to follow the views of the
electorate during the 2008 federal campaign, offered the most accurate prediction of the results of
Canada’s 40th election.
http://bit.ly/4zxfIS
Since 2006, Angus Reid has covered eight provincial elections in Canada—more than any other
pollster in the country—and the results have accurately predicted the outcome of each of these
democratic processes.
More information on the way Angus Reid conducts public opinion research can be found at
http://bit.ly/3z0uII
- 30 -
For more information, please contact

our spokesperson listed in the footnote.
Copies of this poll are available on our website:

http://www.visioncritical.com/category/global-opinions-and-trends
CONTACT:

Most Americans Want To Limit Terms of Senators and House Members

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For Immediate Release

United States Public Opinion Poll

Most Americans Want to Limit Terms

[NEW YORK – Aug. 12, 2010] – A majority of

For all our polls, go to our website / Follow us on Twitter

Keeping the current

Lifting term limits

Not sure 10% 6% 6% 13% 13% 5% 5% 9%

Keeping the current

Not sure 10% 9% 7% 13% 11% 7% 6% 8%

Keeping the current

Not sure 13% 10% 10% 15% 15% 10% 7% 11%

For more information, please contact

Copies of this poll are available on our website:

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