WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Inflation and abortion led the list of issues identified by American voters as mattering most to their ballots in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, according to an exit poll released Tuesday evening.

The NBC News Exit Poll found that nearly one-third of voters named inflation and 27 percent named abortion when asked which issue mattered most this year.

Trailing these concerns were crime and gun policy -- each named by 12 percent of voters, followed by immigration, which stood at 10 percent.

Across the country, Republican candidates have emphasized crime, inflation, and immigration as part of their campaign messaging.

Many Republican voters shared these concerns, the NBC poll showed, with 44 percent naming inflation as the most important issue, followed by immigration.

By contrast, Democrats were overwhelmingly concerned about abortion, with 46 percent naming it as the most important issue, followed by inflation and gun policy.

In the elections this year, all 435 U.S. House of Representatives seats are up for grabs, as are 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate. In addition, 36 out of 50 states and three U.S. territories are electing governors.

Numerous other state and local elections are also being contested.