Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters now believe that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. That’s up four points from a week ago and the highest level of optimism yet recorded. A Ballotpedia national survey found that 20% of voters currently disagree and believe the worst is yet to come. Twenty-five percent (25%) are not sure.
Taking a longer look at the timeline highlights just how dramatically the numbers have shifted since the vaccines became available. The number who believe the worst is behind us is up six points from a month ago, fourteen points from two months ago, and twenty-three points from three months ago.
Throughout the pandemic, there has been a vast partisan perception gap. That remains the case today. Sixty-four percent (64%) of Republicans now believe the worst is behind us. That view is shared by 52% of Democrats and 44% of independent voters. This marks the first time that a majority of Democrats have believed the worst is behind us.
On a related topic, a recent Number of the Day showed that fewer than half of all voters are aware of the new CDC guidelines on mask-wearing. There is a partisan divide on this as well. Most Republican voters (56%) are aware of the new CDC guidelines, while most Democrats (57%) are not. Independent voters are evenly divided.
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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 May 27-29, 2021. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Most respondents were contacted online or via text while 170 were contacted using automated phone polling techniques. Online respondents were selected from a list of Registered Voters and through a process of Random Digital Engagement. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, 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.
