Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: General Election Tracker (09/09/2020)

Washington, DC, September 9, 2020 –   With election season fully underway, Reuters/Ipsos has begun reporting on the ballot preferences of likely voters. In the latest edition of the Reuters/Ipsos Core Political, former Vice President Joe Biden continues to have a lead over President Donald Trump among registered voters. That lead expands with likely voters, as Biden currently is stronger with Americans most likely to vote. Most Americans remain concerned about the direction of the country and are split on the most important issues facing the country, with partisanship determining the salience of major issues. President Donald Trump’s approval rating remains stable.

A majority of likely voters (52%) report they would vote for Joe Biden and 40% would vote for Donald Trump if the election for president were held today.

• About 85% of Republican likely voters say they would vote for Trump, 8% would vote for Biden, and 8% say they would support another candidate or they do not know.
• Nine in ten Democratic likely voters (93%) say they would vote for Biden, 4% would vote for Trump, and 3% are unsure.

Just a quarter of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction (25%).

• Only 8% of Democratic registered voters say the country is headed in the right direction, compared to 53% of Republican registered voters.
• Democratic registered voters’ perceptions have remained consistently pessimistic in 2020, hovering near one in ten respondents who feel the country is headed in the right direction. While Republican registered voters are more optimistic about the direction of the country than Democratic registered voters, the number of Republican registered voters who say the country is on the right path has decreased by about 20 points since February of this year.

The economy and jobs (29%) are the most important issues for about one in three Americans. The economy and jobs are the top concerns for both Democratic registered voters (25%) and Republican registered voters (32%). After the economy and jobs, perceptions of major problems are heavily influenced by partisanship.

• About 19% of Americans are volunteering issues like coronavirus, systemic racism and police brutality, the Trump administration, and partisan politics as the most important problems facing the nation. Democratic registered voters (25%) are more likely than Republican registered voters (13%) to volunteer issues.
• Healthcare is a top priority for 15% of Americans. Democratic registered voters are also more likely to say healthcare (22%) is an issue than their Republican counterparts (10%). Republican registered voters say that crime (14%) is the most important issue after the economy.

President Trump’s overall approval rating stands at 39% among all Americans.

• Republican registered voters remain extremely supportive of the president, with 80% reporting they approve of the job he is doing as president.
• Democratic registered voters are very critical of the president’s job performance, with just 8% reporting they approve.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between September 3-8, 2020 on behalf of Thomson Reuters. For this survey, a sample of 1,337 Americans age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 1,107 registered voters, 507 Democratic registered voters, 459 Republican registered voters, 91 independent registered voters and 823 likely voters. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. The poll also has a credibility interval of ± 3.4 percentage points for all registered voters, ± 5.0 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, ± 5.2 percentage points for Republican registered voters, ± 11.3 percentage points for independent registered voters, and ± 3.9 percentage points for likely voters. 

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Kate Silverstein
Media Relations, US
Public Affairs
+1 718 755-8829
[email protected]

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