10 undecided voters explain why they haven’t picked a side in this election

Most people have decided who they are going to vote for. Former President Donald Trump is well known and polarizing — people either love him or hate him. Vice President Harris is famous, but voters say they don’t know her as well.

Polls show an incredibly tight race between them, and a handful of swing voters could decide the election, depending on who they vote for or if they decide to stay home.

Only a tiny slice of the electorate is considered persuadable — anywhere from 6% or less to the low teens.

There were nearly four dozen undecided voters in the NPR/PBS News/Marist poll in the last four months who gave permission to call them back to follow up. To understand their current thinking and motivations, NPR tried them all and got in touch with 10 by phone in the days following the Harris-Trump debate. What we found was notable.

First, the debate was important for Harris. Most who watched said she performed better than Trump. They were not all moved to vote for her as a result, but four who seemed to need a degree of reassurance about Harris are now voting for her or leaning Harris’ direction after the debate.

And while undecided voters often have unique reasons for what influences their votes, there was a clear gender divide. All four who say they are now voting for or leaning toward Harris are women. That also reflects the wide gender gap seen in polls between the candidates.

The other six — one woman and five men — were a mix. Five said they likely won’t be voting for Harris, most citing the economy or immigration as reasons. One other said he is still truly undecided, but said prices are a major concern. Two are leaning toward Trump; another said she aligns more with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; a self-described