the social and political fissures that have left americans walled off from one another along lines of race, class, education, gender and geography played out in stark ways in this election, a contest that left people pessimistic about the future of their country and uninspired with their choices of who should lead it. eight years after the election of the first african-american president held the promise of breaking down the country<u+2019>s deep and longstanding racial divisions, american society seemed as polarized as ever, according to surveys of early voters and exit polls conducted by edison research. one thing most voters shared was an overriding sense of disgust, even if they were split bitterly over which candidate repelled them more. significant numbers of voters said the thought of either candidate in the white house frightened them. donald j. trump <u+2019>s coalition was overwhelmingly white, and leaned toward male and older voters. he won whites without college degrees by more than two to one <u+2014> a larger margin than any candidate since at least 1980. his support from rural voters was nearly double hillary clinton <u+2019>s. mrs. clinton was lifted, by contrast, by women, urban voters and those with more education. she also held onto the people who formed the backbone of president obama<u+2019>s coalition in both 2008 and 2012, though in lesser numbers: blacks, hispanics, unmarried women and young voters. neither candidate was viewed favorably; more than half of voters saw mrs. clinton unfavorably and six in 10 had an unfavorable opinion of mr. trump. the quality that mattered most to voters was the ability to bring needed change, cited by nearly four in 10 voters. mr. trump won these voters by a huge margin. experience and good judgment were each cited as the most important quality by about one in five voters, and mrs. clinton won these voters by large margins. close to four in 10 said they would be scared if mr. trump were elected; three in 10 said the same about mrs. clinton. uneasiness extended well beyond the state of politics. americans expressed concern about their financial well-being, their children<u+2019>s futures and the fitness and trustworthiness of their leaders. three in five voters said the country was seriously on the wrong track and about the same number said the economy was either not good or poor. two-thirds said their personal financial situation was either worse or the same as it was four years ago. about one in three voters said they expected life to be worse for the next generation. mr. trump<u+2019>s unusual assault on the impartiality of the country<u+2019>s elections appeared to have an effect, but mostly among his supporters. nearly seven in 10 of mrs. clinton<u+2019>s voters were very confident that the votes in their state would be counted accurately. but fewer than three in 10 of mr. trump<u+2019>s supporters said they were very confident. some demographic trends seem to be hardening. twelve years ago, george w. bush made inroads with hispanic voters who many republicans confidently said would form the basis of an enduring conservative majority. but today<u+2019>s republican party is repelling them. mr. trump<u+2019>s performance among hispanics, at 29 percent of the vote, was similar to mitt romney<u+2019>s in 2012, but far below mr. bush<u+2019>s 44 percent support in 2004. americans were in a foul mood about the state of their country<u+2019>s politics. nearly half of voters were dissatisfied with the way the federal government is working and another quarter were angry. only a quarter were satisfied, and far fewer were enthusiastic. the results contained warning signs for republicans, who concluded after the 2012 election that changing demographics would reduce them to a permanent minority party unless they improved how blacks and hispanics viewed them. mr. trump<u+2019>s nomination seemed only to exacerbate those trends, with his hostility toward many foreigners, his refusal at times to dissociate himself from avowed racists and his plan to ban muslims from entering the united states. most voters rejected one policy proposal mr. trump vowed to pursue from the beginning and never backed away from: building a wall on the southern border with mexico. a majority opposed that plan. seven in 10 said that most undocumented immigrants working in the united states should be offered a chance to apply for legal status. immigrants who have become citizens favored mrs. clinton by a ratio of two to one. though immigration or terrorism did not rank at the top of most voters<u+2019> concerns, the majority of voters who said immigration or terrorism was their top issue favored mr. trump. most voters who cited the economy or foreign policy as top priorities backed mrs. clinton, seemingly rejecting mr. trump<u+2019>s insistence that his business background gave him a superior set of negotiating skills. a majority of voters said they approved of the job mr. obama was doing as president, and those voters backed mrs. clinton by huge margins. but neither mr. trump nor mrs. clinton inspired voters in the way that mr. obama did. four in 10 voters said they strongly favored the candidate they supported, and a quarter of voters said they were motivated by dislike for the other candidate. in 2012, about two-thirds of voters said they strongly favored their candidate. find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the morning briefing newsletter . a version of this article appears in print on november 9, 2016, on page p6 of the new york edition with the headline: exit polls confirm stark divisions along racial, gender and economic lines. order reprints | today's paper | subscribe
election exit polls reveal a starkly divided nation
jeremy w. peters megan thee-brenan dalia sussman