Republicans are paying more attention to the presidential election than Democrats, according to a new Gallup poll.

Almost half, 47 percent, of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents reported in mid-May that they were following election news very closely. But only 39 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said the same thing.

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Over the past several months, the poll results have shown a similar pattern.

In April, 48 percent of Republicans reported following the election very closely, whereas only 34 percent of Democrats said they were very closely monitoring election news.

Overall, 79 percent of Americans said they are following the election very or somewhat closely, up from January, when 69 percent of respondents had that answer.

According to the new poll, 40 percent of respondents reported following the election very closely, up from 31 percent in January.

Those paying closest attention to the election are white males, aged 50 and older.

The poll of 1,537 respondents, conducted May 13–15, has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.