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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe latest national survey by the Pew Research Center conducted June 27-30 among 1,003 adults, finds that most Americans are aware of the ruling and its implications. Two-thirds (66%) know that the court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage supporters, while about the same share (67%) knows that it is up to individual states to determine whether gay couples can get married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By contrast, there is far less awareness of another major Supreme Court decision last week. Just 34% know that the court overturned parts of the Voting Rights Act; 23% say incorrectly it kept the law intact and 43% have no opinion. Opinions about the court\u2019s decision in the case also reflect some confusion: A plurality (43%) has no opinion on the ruling, while 33% approve and 25% disapprove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reactions to the court\u2019s rulings on same-sex marriage are divided along age, gender and partisan lines. By about two-to-one (58% to 27%), those younger than 30 approve of the court\u2019s decisions. People 65 and older disapprove of the rulings by 49% to 36%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, 61% of Democrats approve of the Supreme Court rulings on gay marriage, while 63% of Republicans disapprove of them. And women (50% approve) are more supportive of the court\u2019s actions than are men (39%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n These gaps generally mirror differences in opinions about whether gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry legally. In May, 51% favored same-sex marriage while 42% were opposed. (For more, see \u201cIn Gay Marriage Debate, Both Supporters and Opponents See Recognition as \u2018Inevitable\u2019<\/a>,\u201d June 6, 2013.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The survey finds that the court\u2019s rulings on same-sex marriage were the public\u2019s top news story last week: 30% followed this story very closely; by comparison, no more than about one-in-five tracked any other story very closely, including the George Zimmerman trial (22%), Senate passage of an immigration bill (21%) or the court\u2019s ruling on the Voting Rights Act (19%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n A year ago, there was far more interest in the Supreme Court\u2019s decision upholding most provisions of the 2010 health care law<\/a>: Fully 45% followed news about that ruling very closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two-thirds of Americans (67%) know that the court\u2019s rulings on gay marriage mean that it is up to individual states to determine whether same-sex couples can get married, while 15% say, incorrectly, that as a result of the rulings gay couples can get married in all 50 states and 18% don\u2019t kno<\/p>\n\n\n\n w.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About as many (66%) know that the rulings favored those who support same-sex marriage, while 13% say they favor opponents of gay marriage and 21% don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But only about half of Americans (49%) are able to answer both questions correctly, while 51% either answer at least one wrong or do not know the answer to one or both questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People who approve of the court\u2019s same-sex marriage rulings are more likely than those who disapprove of the rulings to know that the decisions favored supporters of gay marriage (81% vs. 63%). But those who disapprove are as likely as approvers to know that the decisions leave it to individual states to determine whether gay couples can get married (72% of those who disapprove vs. 71% of those who approve).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Young people (18-29) are more likely than those 65 and older to know that the decisions favored same-sex marriage proponents (75% vs. 57%). But there are more modest age differences in the shares that know the rulings leave it individual states to determine whether gay couples can marry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Identical majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents (67% each) know that the court\u2019s rulings favored gay marriage proponents. And there are only small partisan differences in the percentages saying the court\u2019s rulings allow individual states to determine whether same-sex couples can marry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, two-thirds of Americans either do not know how the Supreme Court ruled on the Voting Rights Act (43%) or say incorrectly that it kept the law in effect (23%). Only about a third (34%) know that the court overturned parts of the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n College graduates are more likely than those with less education to correctly answer this question. Nonetheless, only about half of college graduates (51%) know that the court overturned parts of the law. Only about three -in-ten (28%) of those with less education know this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, slightly more approve (33%) than disapprove (25%) of the court\u2019s ruling in the voting rights case, but 43% could not answer. Among those who correctly assess the impact of the court\u2019s decision, 45% approve, while 40% disapprove and just 15% offer no opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both blacks and whites are divided over the court\u2019s voting rights decision, though blacks are more likely to express an opinion. About four-in-ten blacks (42%) approve of the decision, while 31% disapprove and 27% have no opinion. Among whites, 29% approve, 25% disapprove and 46% have no opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Supreme Court\u2019s pair of decisions <\/p>\n\n\n\n on same-sex marriage was the public\u2019s top news story of the week. Three-in-ten (30%) very closely followed the coverage of these rulings. Fewer (19%) followed the court\u2019s decision on the 1965 Voting Rights Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Relative to other major Supreme Court decisions of the last four years, news about the rulings on same-sex marriage attracted about as much interest as the 2012 decision on Arizona\u2019s immigration law (29% very closely), but attracted far less attention than the court\u2019s judgment to uphold most provisions of the Affordable Care Act. In June 2012, 45% of the public followed this story very closely. Public interest in the court\u2019s decision to overturn parts of the Voting Rights Act ranks in the middle of the pack among major court decisions since 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similar percentage of Republicans and Democrats say they followed news about the same-sex marriage rulings very closely (29% and 35%, respectively). On the Voting Rights Act decision, more <\/p>\n\n\n\n Democrats (26%) than Republicans (18%) tracked this very closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among other news stories last week, 22% say they followed George Zimmerman\u2019s trial for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin very closely, while similar shares tracked Senate passage of an immigration reform bill (21% very closely) and efforts to apprehend Edward Snowden, the contractor who leaked government surveillance secrets (20% very closely).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Zimmerman trial drew particularly high interest among African-Americans: 46% reported following news <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"7-1-2013](\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/07\/7-1-2013-2.png?w=292\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMost Know Marriage Rulings Leave Issue to States<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMany Unaware of Voting Rights Decision<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTop News Stories of the Week<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"7-1-2013](\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/07\/7-1-2013-6.png?w=295\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"7-1-2013](\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/07\/7-1-2013-7.png?w=407\")
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