The Democratic donkey. Credit: PD.

A new study of Election Day exit poll data conducted by the nonpartisan public policy group Solomon Project shows that the American Jews have become increasingly liberal since the 1990s.

In the 1970s, about 40 percent of Jews classified themselves as liberal, according to the study—compared with 45-46 percent over the last three presidential elections.

Only 13 percent of Jews identified themselves as conservative in exit polls on Election Day 2008, the study says. Among the general population, 22 percent of voters called themselves liberal in 2008, and 34 percent identified as conservative. In the actual election results, 78 percent of Jews voted for Barack Obama.

However, religious Jews are considerably more likely than others to vote Republican, the study shows. Demographers project that the number of Orthodox Jews will increase due to their high birth rate, and this could lead to greater conservative numbers among the Jewish population.