WEST VIRGINIA (AP) – Voters in West Virginia 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 52% of West Virginia voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 48% 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 635 voters and 212 nonvoters in West Virginia — 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, 20% of voters said the virus in the U.S. is completely or mostly under control, and 39% said it’s somewhat under control. Forty-one percent of voters think the coronavirus is not at all under control in this country.
ON THE ISSUES
The coronavirus pandemic and the economy were top of mind for many voters in West Virginia. Thirty-five percent said the coronavirus pandemic is the most important issue facing the country today. Thirty-five percent named the economy.
Nine percent named health care, 5% named law enforcement and 5% named racism.
NATIONAL ECONOMY
Voters were closely divided in their assessments of the nation’s economy. Overall, 53% described economic conditions in the U.S. as excellent or good, and 47% called them not so good or poor.
STAYING AT HOME
Among registered voters who chose not to cast a ballot in West Virginia, 29% said that was because they don’t like politics generally, 24% said they are concerned about being exposed to the coronavirus and 13% said they don’t like the candidates.
In West Virginia, 74% of nonvoters were younger than 45 and 93% 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 635 voters in West Virginia 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 4.5 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
