Most Republicans say it’s time for America to reopen even if that means more novel coronavirus cases and deaths, while most Democrats say it’s not worth the risk.
A Rasmussen Reports poll released Friday found the that 57% of likely Republican voters agreed that Americans need to return to their everyday lives “even if it may lead to more illness and more deaths due to coronavirus,” but 73% of Democrats disagreed, as did 52% of unaffiliated voters.
A majority of all voters surveyed—53%—agreed with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statement that “until we have a vaccine or an effective treatment or enough widespread immunity that new cases fail to materialize, the option of returning to normalcy doesn’t exist.”
Still, there was a strong partisan divide on the Illinois Democrat’s position.
“Given their reluctance to begin returning to normalcy yet, it’s not surprising that 73% of Democrats agree with Pritzker that a return to normalcy is not possible until new cases of coronavirus fail to materialize,” said the Rasmussen analysis. “Just 38% of Republicans and 48% of unaffiliated voters share that view.”
In addition, 41% of Democrats said America can afford to remain largely shut down for an indefinite period, while only 17% of Republicans and 16% of unaffiliated voters agreed.
Overall, 25% of voters agreed that an indefinite shutdown was possible, down from 36% in March.
The phone and online survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted May 6-7, with a +/- 3% sampling error.
Republicans Are More Willing To Risk Deaths, Illness to Get Country Going Again… https://t.co/5FMAu9HttY pic.twitter.com/pkw7nPYUBq
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) May 9, 2020
