Forty-five percent (45%) of Registered Voters believe that the government should be easing lockdown restrictions in the area where they live. A Scott Rasmussen national survey found that 36% take the opposite view and believe that stricter rules should be re-imposed. Nineteen percent (19%) are not sure.
Other recent data showed that 37% wear masks at all times around other people. However, 63% take a more relaxed approach. Taken together, these results suggest that a significant minority of just under 40% remains committed to a strict lockdown strategy for dealing with the pandemic. However, a larger number of voters are looking to move beyond the lockdowns.
Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans want lockdown restrictions eased while 54% of Democrats want to see stricter regulations. Independent voters are evenly divided.
One interesting geographic note is that Red State voters are evenly divided. Those are states that Donald Trump won by at least four points in 2016. However, in Blue States–those that Hillary Clinton won by at least four points, a solid plurality (47%) favor easing restrictions. While those results may seem counter-intuitive, they may reflect that states led by Republican Governors have already eased restrictions more than states led by Democratic Governors. This may be a sign that Blue State voters are losing patience with lockdown measures.
In the Purple States–the competitive states that may decide the winner of Election 2020–49% want to see restrictions eased while 36% found the opposite view.
Among Likely Voters nationwide, support for easing restrictions is a bit higher: 49% support the more relaxed approach while 36% want to see stricter measures put in place.
The survey also found that 27% of Registered Voters believe the worst of the pandemic is behind us. However, 48% believe the worst is still to come. That’s consistent with other recent surveys and reflects a decline in pessimism since the summer.
Not surprisingly, those who believe the worst is behind us overwhelmingly favor easing lockdown restrictions. Among those who believe the worst is still to come, 63% want stricter lockdowns. However, even among these more pessimistic voters, 25% believe it’s time to ease restrictions in their area.
As for those who aren’t sure about whether the worst is behind us, 48% want to see restrictions eased. Just 19% want stricter lockdowns.
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Note: Neither Scott Rasmussen, ScottRasmussen.com, nor RMG Research, Inc. have any affiliation with Rasmussen Reports. While Scott Rasmussen founded that firm, he left more than seven years ago and has had no involvement since that time.
Methodology
The survey of 1,200 Registered Voters was conducted by Scott Rasmussen using a mixed mode approach from September 24-26, 2020. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Most respondents were contacted online or via text while 159 were contacted using automated phone polling techniques. Certain quotas were applied to the overall sample and lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.
