Voters in Georgia 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 41% of Georgia voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 58% 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 3,291 voters and 921 nonvoters in Georgia — conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.
TRUMP VS BIDEN
In the race for president, Biden led Trump among voters under 45 while older voters were more likely to prefer Trump.
Biden led among Black voters while Trump led Biden among white voters.
College-educated voters leaned toward Biden over Trump while Trump and Biden were about tied among voters without a college degree.
Both voters in cities and suburban voters were more likely to support Biden over Trump but Trump had an advantage over Biden among voters in small towns and rural areas.
FACING THE PANDEMIC
The coronavirus pandemic has spread through the U.S. for roughly eight months, killing more than 230,000 Americans. Overall, 22% of voters said the virus in the U.S. is completely or mostly under control, and 30% said it’s somewhat under control. Forty-seven 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 Georgia. Thirty-nine percent said it is the most important issue facing the country today.
Voters also considered the economy a major issue, with 27% saying it ranked at the top.
Eleven percent named racism, 10% named health care and 4% named law enforcement.
NATIONAL ECONOMY
Voters were slightly negative in their assessments of the nation’s economy. Overall, 45% described economic conditions in the U.S. as excellent or good, and 55% called them not so good or poor.
STAYING AT HOME
Among registered voters who chose not to cast a ballot in Georgia, 24% said that was because they don’t like politics generally, 17% said they don’t know enough about the candidates’ positions and 16% said their vote doesn’t matter.
In Georgia, 71% of nonvoters were younger than 45 and 82% 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 3,291 voters in Georgia 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 2.2 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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