U.S. supports term limits for Congress

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PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. adults support setting term limits for members of Congress and abolishing the Electoral College, a Gallup poll indicates.

Both issues cut across party lines, with strong majorities among Democrats, Republicans and independents. Both would require amending the U.S. Constitution.

Overall, 75 percent of respondents said they would vote for term limits and only 21 percent said they would vote against them if the issue was on the ballot. Support was higher among Republicans at 82 percent, dropping to 79 percent for independents and 65 percent for Democrats.

On the electoral college, 65 percent said they would vote for abolition, and 29 percent said they would vote against it. Partisan differences were smaller, with 66 percent of Democrats, 63 percent of independents and 61 percent of Republicans favoring abolition.

Gallup said it has conducted polls on both issues over the years and had generally found strong support for both term limits and direct election of the president. One exception is that immediately after George W. Bush won the 2000 presidential race after losing the popular vote to Al Gore Republican support for doing away with the electoral college dropped significantly, although it has bounced back.

Gallup interviewed 1,013 adults across the country as part of its daily tracking survey Jan. 8-9. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.