Tim Tai, Senior Photographer

As U.S. election day approaches on Nov. 5, thousands of Yale students will cast ballots for their preferred presidential candidate. In a survey, the News received 957 anonymous responses from students eligible to vote in the upcoming election. 

The respondents are registered to vote in 49 U.S. states, with 71 percent planning to vote through absentee ballots in their home states. Over 79 percent of respondents are certain they will vote, and 12 percent more will very likely vote. 

Almost 13 percent — or 124 students in a survey — will cast deciding votes in one of seven swing states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 

82 percent of students intend to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, compared to only around 8 percent who back former President Donald Trump. These numbers are similar for swing state respondents.

Only 18 respondents — under 2 percent — say they will vote for the Green Party’s Jill Stein. Around 4 percent are unsure whom they will vote for. 

Unsurprisingly, Yale students overwhelmingly identify as liberal and are affiliated with the Democratic Party. However, views slightly differ across gender, race, Yale school and major demographics. 

Women, Black and graduate students more liberal, engineering majors slightly less

Following a national trend, women at Yale are more left-leaning than men.

Similarly, 90 percent of Black students say they will vote for Harris. At a slightly higher rate than other groups, 10 percent of Hispanic student voters will back Trump. 

53 percent of Black students identify as very left-leaning, compared to around 40 percent among students in other racial demographic groups. 

Only around 26 percent of respondents study in one of Yale’s 14 graduate schools. Over 55.6 percent of graduate students identified as very left-leaning and over 30.6 percent as somewhat left-leaning, compared to 42.2 and 33.7 percent among college students, respectively. 

Among Yale College students, those in engineering majors are most conservative, with 16 percent voting for Trump and slightly more identifying as somewhat or very right-leaning. Majors were categorized according to Yale’s classifications.

Yalies pessimistic about the U.S.’s future

Almost 44.5 percent of respondents believe that the U.S. is moving in the wrong direction, compared to only 17.4 percent who think that the U.S. is moving in the right direction; 38.1 percent are not sure. 

The optimism level differs across groups. 

Slightly more Harris voters believe that the U.S. is moving in the right direction than Trump voters. 

54 percent of Black students think the U.S. is moving in the wrong direction, at a significantly higher rate than other groups. 

Almost half of Harris voters believe that she will win the election in November, while over a third of Trump voters believe that the former president will. 

Voters in Connecticut can register on Election Day at designated locations.