Early exit polls reveal American voters are not too excited about Clinton or Trump

Preliminary national exit polls for the US election have begun to emerge, providing insight at how voters see the two main candidates: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Both nominees have reached record levels of unpopularity and historically low levels of trust.

According to NBC News, 61% of voters see Trump unfavourably while 54% of voters see his Democratic rival unfavourably. A considerable amount of voters also view the candidates as being dishonest and untrustworthy – 59% for Clinton and 65% for Trump.

Meanwhile, Clinton fares better than Trump when it comes to qualifications and temperament, ABC News noted. Preliminary exit polls found that 53% feel Clinton is qualified to run the country and 56% feel she has the right temperament for the job. However, only 37% feel Trump is qualified and 34% feel he has the right temperament.

When ranking what candidate qualities are most important to them, 38% said it was someone who can bring about change, 22% said it is experience and 22% said good judgment. Another 15% said the quality most important is "someone who cares about people like me".

Voters are far more bothered by Trump's treatment of women (51%) than they are about Clinton's emails (44%), the exit polls found.

Many voters are also concerned about a Clinton or Trump presidency, ABC News noted. Twenty-nine percent of voters are scared about the prospect of a Clinton presidency, compared to 37% who are scared of a Trump presidency. Voters are decidedly less excited about the prospect of a Clinton or Trump presidency, 17% and 13% respectively.

ABC News noted that the candidates' supporters are significantly scared of the opposing nominee. Among Clinton supporters, 72% are afraid of Trump in office, while 60% of Trump supporters are scared of Clinton in office.

When did voters decide who to vote for?

A whopping 75% of voters said they decided who they were voting for more than a month before the election. Another 24% said they made their decision within the last month.