Poll: Four in 10 voters believe coronavirus-related US deaths largely due to poor policy choices

As the country sees growing coronavirus-related fatalities and job losses, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds four in 10 voters believe the number of deaths in the U.S. is largely due to poor policy choices.

Thirty-nine registered voters in the poll said they believe policy is the main cause of the country’s high death-rate, while 61 percent said they believe it is due to the natural outcome of the pandemic.

When it came to the issue of unemployment, 34 percent of voters in the May 18-19 survey said they believe the record job losses occurring during the crisis is due to poor policy choices, while 66 percent said it is the natural consequence of the disease.

Among partisans, Democrats were more likely to cite inferior policy decisions as the main cause of pandemic-related deaths and economic destruction.

Half of Democratic voters in the survey said the number of COVID-19 deaths was largely due to poor policy choices, while 37 percent said the same on the issue of unemployed Americans.

By contrast, roughly one-third of Republican voters and 33 percent of independents cited poor policy for both U.S. deaths and unemployment.

The Hill-HarrisX poll was conducted online among 932 registered voters between May 18 and 19. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. 

— Gabriela Schulte