Military Recruiting Woes Worry Voters, But Most Still Oppose Draft
Concerns about recruiting problems in America’s armed forces are high, but not high enough to convince voters that a military draft is the solution.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 76% of Likely U.S. Voters are concerned that recruiting problems could affect the readiness of the U.S. military, including 46% who are Very Concerned. Just 22% aren’t concerned that military readiness could be affected by recruiting problems. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The armed forces are dealing with what has been called a “crisis in military recruiting.” However, only 27% of voters believe the United States should have a military draft – up from 23% in August 2022 — while 55% remain opposed to a draft. Another 18% are not sure.
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The survey of 1,020 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on October 26 and 29-30, 2023 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research.
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