Voters in Maryland made their pick for president while holding negative views about the country’s direction, according to an expansive AP survey of the American electorate.
The race between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden concluded Tuesday as the nation remains in the throes of a global public health crisis and mired in the economic downturn it brought on. AP VoteCast found that 30% of Maryland voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 70% of voters said it is headed in the wrong direction.
Here’s a snapshot of who voted and what matters to them, based on preliminary results from AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of about 133,000 voters and nonvoters — including 2,211 voters and 496 nonvoters in Maryland — conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.
TRUMP VS BIDEN
In the race for president, Biden led Trump among both voters under 45 and older voters.
Biden had an edge among white voters. Black voters were more likely to back Biden over Trump.
Biden was preferred over Trump among both voters without a college degree and college-educated voters.
Both voters in cities and suburban voters were more likely to back Biden over Trump but voters in small towns and rural areas modestly preferred Trump over Biden.
FACING THE PANDEMIC
The coronavirus pandemic has spread through the U.S. for roughly eight months, killing more than 230,000 Americans. Overall, 13% of voters said the virus in the U.S. is completely or mostly under control, and 27% said it’s somewhat under control. Sixty percent of voters think the coronavirus is not at all under control in this country.
ON THE ISSUES
The coronavirus pandemic was top of mind for many voters in Maryland. Forty-seven percent said it is the most important issue facing the country today.
Voters also considered the economy a major issue, with 23% saying it ranked at the top.
Ten percent named racism, 8% named health care and 5% named climate change.
NATIONAL ECONOMY
Voters were more negative than positive in their assessments of the nation’s economy. Overall, 33% described economic conditions in the U.S. as excellent or good, and 67% called them not so good or poor.
STAYING AT HOME
Among registered voters who chose not to cast a ballot in Maryland, 24% said that was because they don’t like the candidates, 17% said their vote doesn’t matter and 16% said they don’t like politics generally.
In Maryland, 70% of nonvoters were younger than 45 and 75% did not have a college degree.
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AP created this story automatically using results from AP VoteCast, a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for Fox News, NPR, PBS NewsHour, Univision News, USA Today Network, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. The survey of 2,211 voters in Maryland was conducted for eight days, concluding as polls closed. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The survey combines a random sample of registered voters drawn from the state voter file and self-identified registered voters selected from nonprobability online panels. The margin of sampling error for voters is estimated to be plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. Find more details about AP VoteCast’s methodology at https://ap.org/votecast.
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For AP’s complete coverage of the U.S. presidential elections: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2020
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