Poll: Voters say coronavirus is the most important issue facing the country

The coronavirus is the most important issue currently facing the country in voters’ eyes, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds.

Forty-six percent of registered voters in the Sept. 30-Oct.1 survey said the pandemic is the most important problem for the nation, followed by immigration at 24 percent and the economy at 23 percent. 

Nineteen percent of voters said health care was the country’s top issue, while 14 percent named terrorism.

The survey found the debt and deficit and climate change received 12 percent each, followed by guns, taxes, corruption and crime, at 10 percent each.

All other issues received less than 10 percent.

Before the pandemic, voters named health care to be the top issue facing the country.

A December 2019 Hill-HarrisX survey found that 15 percent of registered voters across the U.S. said health care is “is the most important issue facing the nation today.”

Another 12 percent named national security, particularly regarding terrorism. Immigration and the economy each received 10 percent, while climate change came in fourth on the list at 8 percent.

The most recent Hill-HarrisX poll was conducted online among 948 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. 

—Gabriela Schulte