Report: 54 Percent of Americans Would Vote for Well-Qualified Atheist

In 2011, for the first time since the question was first asked in 1958, a majority of Americans (54 percent) told Gallup they would vote for a generally well-qualified atheist for president, according to the July political report from the American Enterprise Institute. Forty-three percent said they would not. Still, the proportion of Americans willing to vote for an atheist is lower than for the other groups Gallup examined: black (96 percent), woman (95 percent), Catholic (94 percent), Hispanic (92 percent), Jewish (91 percent), Mormon (80 percent), gay or lesbian (68 percent) and Muslim (58 percent).