An Associated Press exit poll finds the vast majority of Alabama voters are worried about the direction of the economy, and roughly half cited the issue as their top priority.

The survey also shows that President Bush’s popularity in the state has dropped sharply, with some six in 10 voters saying they disapprove of the job he’s done. That’s about the same amount who said they approved of his performance four years ago.

The exit poll of 1,000 Alabama voters was conducted for AP by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International in a random sample of 20 precincts statewide. Results were subject to sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points, higher for subgroups.

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