AP VoteCast: Idaho voters mixed on state of nation
Voters in Idaho made their pick for president while holding mixed 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 50% of Idaho voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 50% 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 478 voters and 172 nonvoters in Idaho -- conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.
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 32% 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 economy was top of mind for many voters in Idaho. Thirty-seven percent said it is the most important issue facing the country today.
Voters also considered the coronavirus pandemic a major issue, with 31% saying it ranked at the top.
Eight percent named health care, 6% named abortion and 5% named climate change.
NATIONAL ECONOMY
Voters were closely divided in their assessments of the nation's economy. Overall, 52% described economic conditions in the U.S. as excellent or good, and 48% called them not so good or poor.
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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 478 voters in Idaho was conducted for eight days, concluding as polls closed. Interviews in English and Spanish with self-identified registered voters selected from nonprobability online panels are calibrated with interviews of randomly sampled registered voters nationwide. The margin of sampling error for voters is estimated to be plus or minus 5 percentage points. Find more details about AP VoteCast's methodology at https://ap.org/votecast.
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