In a new Elon Poll released this Thursday, and conducted in conjunction with the Charlotte Observer and WBTV, Mecklenburg County voters were asked about the Charlotte Mayoral Election and race relations in the city.
The poll also discussed approval ratings for Gov. Roy Cooper and President Trump, state of race relations and economic issues.
A month before Charlotte elects its new mayor, the two main candidates struggle with name recognition. Current Democratic candidate and mayor pro tem, Vi Lyles, beat sitting Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts in a primary on Sept. 17.
Now Lyles faces current Republican council member Kenny Smith. Both candidates roughly had a quarter of poll respondents claim their names were unrecognizable.
Morgan Bodenarain, Elon University’s student body president and Charlotte Resident, spoke about the significant number of people who are not familiar with either of the candidates.
“It's honestly pretty upsetting,” she said.
The poll also asked about the race relations in Mecklenburg County after Charlotte police fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott a year ago. 58 percent said race relations were the same, 29 percent said relations are worse and 7 percent said they were better.
“I am sure there are many ways that Charlotte will work to fix this problem at an institutional level. I'm looking forward to those future policies, whatever they may be," Bodenarain said.