The highest voter turnout in a U.S. presidential election since 1968 has left many wondering what issues brought the estimated nearly 115 million people to the polls.

Moral values were the most important campaign issue for voters, according to exit polls from CNN.com. Twenty percent of voters polled responded that the economy and jobs were paramount to their decision. Terrorism and the war in Iraq rounded out other important voter issues with 19 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

James McCormick, professor and chairman of political science, said moral decisions were one part of the equation when voters decided.

“What’s interesting about some of the exit polls is that the moral value question was an important part of the decision of something like 22 percent of the public,” McCormick said. “The exit polls show that Bush got support from those who formed their decision on the basis of these moral value questions and on the war against terrorism.”

Other highly regarded issues include the war on terror, the Iraq war and the condition of the economy.

“The issues that were talked about widely had a big impact,” McCormick said.

Louis Kishkunas, president of the ISU College Republicans, said he agreed with McCormick’s analysis.

“Iraq and the war on terror were important because you have to maintain security first,” Kishkunas said. “I think Bush won that battle; he’s a strong leader in the war on terror.”

McCormick also noted cultural issues like same-sex marriage came into play.

Democrat John Kerry received a vast majority of votes from those who were most concerned with the economy, but Bush scored very high on moral issues and terrorism, according to CNN.

“A lot of those undecideds who went to the polls just couldn’t go with an unknown entity like Kerry,” Kishkunas said. “They didn’t know where Kerry really stood.”

It was not only the vagueness of Kerry stances that counted to voters but according to CNN, most of the voters polled believe Kerry said what people want to hear.

McCormick said he couldn’t pinpoint any one issue that may have swung the election to the side of Bush. However, he said, Bush’s win might be attributed to his gains in popularity with minority groups.

Most notably, Bush received 9 percent more of the Latino vote in this election than he did in 2000.

“The other thing that is important to note is the relative lack of change in any of these states,” McCormick said. “The divisions in the electorate remain quite strong.”

Kishkunas thought a primary problem with getting voters informed about this year’s election was media coverage.

“A lot of these issues are really in-depth, and there’s a lot of data,” Kishkunas said. “It’s hard for a politician to put out a lot of specific information when they only get two minutes in a debate or a 30-second soundbyte on ‘Crossfire.'”

Regardless of which issue was most important, McCormick said the voting populous did a good job of concentrating on important issues.

“I think the public is quite astute,” McCormick said.