A strong plurality of Republican voters believe it is safe to hold traditional presidential nominating conventions this summer as originally planned, despite lingering health concerns related to the coronavirus, according to a new poll.
The Republican convention to renominate President Trump is set for Aug. 24 – 27 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a national YouGov survey conducted for the Economist showed that 47% of GOP voters believe the event, which typically draws thousands of people, will be safe to attend. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has told the Washington Examiner that plans for a normal convention are on track, despite uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
A majority of Democrats, 61%, do not believe it will be safe to hold the conventions, compared to 30% of Republicans who feel the same. Another 23% of Republicans are not sure.
Democrats are set to convene in Milwaukee Aug. 17 – 20 to nominate former Vice President Joe Biden, although the coronavirus forced them to push back the event, which was originally scheduled for mid-July. A plurality of independents, 45%, also question the ability to hold a safe convention amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The poll found that a significant percentage of voters are simply not sure what to think about the safety of the quadrennial conventions, including 23% of Republicans, 26% of Democrats, and 32% of independents. The poll revealed stark, partisan differences on a number of related questions.
On the question of whether the conventions should be held at all, 49% of Republicans favor moving ahead with the events. But only 18% of Democrats, and just 26% of independents, agreed.
But there is also support for doing a virtual version of the conventions, with 22% of Republicans saying they “strongly approved” of such a move and 29% saying they “somewhat approved.” Among Democrats and independents, 43% and 27%, respectively, strongly approved; 31% and 27%, respectively, somewhat approved.
McDaniel said the GOP would reassess its plans in early July to determine whether the coronavirus necessitates any changes to the convention. The DNC is already moving to allow convention delegates to vote remotely if they prefer.
The YouGov poll was based on online interviews with 1,175 registered voters. The margin of error was 3.4 percentage points.
