1-In-4 voters are prepared to postpone the November elections
Jason Hopkins on March 19, 2020
Twenty-five percent of voters are willing to delay the November presidential elections as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus, a newly-released study finds.
One-in-four respondents to a Rasmussen Reports survey, which was released on Thursday, say they are already prepared to delay this year’s presidential election. The seemingly-high response comes as local and state governments have suspended numerous services across the country in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19.
To be sure, a large majority of respondents still are opposed to taking such a measure.
“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 25% of Likely U.S. Voters think the November election should be delayed if necessary as coronavirus panic grips the nation,” the study reported. “Sixty-two percent (62%) are opposed to any such delay, but another 13% are undecided.”
There was virtually no ideological difference when it came to the idea of suspending the primary elections, with Democrats and Republicans expressing similar opinions on this issue.
When it came to suspending upcoming state primaries, respondents were much more supportive of suspending activities. Nearly half, 48%, of all voters said state primary elections should be delayed due to the COVID-19 threat, while 37 disagreed and said these elections should go ahead as scheduled.
The Rasmussen survey reached out to 1,000 likely voters between March 17 and 18. The poll has a sampling error of 3 percentage points, and a confidence level of 95%.
If the November presidential elections were to be postponed, it would be the first time in U.S. history.
Delaying elections because of the coronavirus is not unprecedented. Five states have already chosen to postpone their primary contests because of the disease: Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, Georgia, and Louisiana. The governor of Illinois, who opted to carry on with his state’s primary, faced immense backlash from local election officials.
As of Thursday, more than 10,000 people in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19. At least 149 people within the country have died from coronavirus-related illnesses.
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