August 24, 2020

Mandatory Mask Wearing

On August 20th, 2020 the Featured Question in the ActiVote app was about Mandatory Mask Wearing during COVID. A summary of the answers that our users could choose from:

mandate and enforce
mandate in hotspots
mandate within 6 feet only
educate only
the government should stay out of it

We found that the opinions differ significantly depending on who you ask. We will look specifically at differences in opinion based on gender, age and party affiliation.

The crosstabs

Men

40%

13%

31%

Women

60%

21%

12%

mandate and enforcemandate in hotspotsmandate within 6 feeteducate onlystay out of it

See the details below →

Men are about evenly split on the involvement of government: 44% believe that the government should stay either out of it, or only provide some education, while 49% believe that it should be mandated either nation-wide or at least in hotspots. Women see things differently: only 14% believe that the government should stay on the sidelines, while 81% would like to see a clear mandate in (parts of) the country.

The crosstabs

18-29

36%

14%

17%

25%

30-49

46%

17%

29%

50-64

37%

16%

27%

65+

80%

12%

mandate and enforcemandate in hotspotsmandate within 6 feeteducate onlystay out of it

See the details below →

COVID-19 hits especially the elderly hard. It may therefore be no surprise that there is a huge gap in the opinions between the younger population from 18-64 and those 65+. About 55% of the younger group favors a mandate, while about 35% is against it. Among the elderly, a whopping 92% favors a mandate.

The crosstabs

Dem

75%

17%

Rep

16%

12%

69%

Ind

43%

29%

22%

mandate and enforcemandate in hotspotsmandate within 6 feeteducate onlystay out of it

See the details below →

There is a significant difference between democrats and republicans on this topic. Of Democrats, 92% favor having a mandate everywhere or at least in hotspots, while 81% of Republicans want no government mandates.

Clearly, the country is divided on the topic of masks. If you want to add your voice - the question will still be available in the app!

The Details

The answers as asked

Charts and tables use the short label at the start of each line.

mandate and enforce: Government should mandate (and enforce with penalties) the wearing of masks in public at all times during the pandemic.
mandate in hotspots: Government should mandate wearing masks in public in all areas with community spread.
mandate within 6 feet: Government should mandate wearing masks only if you come within 6 feet of someone else.
educate only: Government should only educate the public about the benefits of wearing masks.
stay out of it: Government should not be involved in mask-wearing choices.

What voters said

Percentages over all 5 choices · 254 registered voters · MoE ±6.1%

mandate and enforce

49%

mandate in hotspots

15%

mandate within 6 feet

educate only

stay out of it

22%

The full crosstab table

ActiVote · Mandatory Mask Wearing · August 24, 2020
	254 RV	mandate and enforce	mandate in hotspots	mandate within 6 feet	educate only	stay out of it
National	±6.1% MoE	49%	15%	6%	8%	22%
Gender	Men	40%	9%	6%	13%	31%
Gender	Women	60%	21%	5%	2%	12%
Age	18-29	36%	14%	9%	17%	25%
	30-49	46%	17%	0%	8%	29%
	50-64	37%	16%	16%	4%	27%
	65+	80%	12%	0%	0%	8%
Ethnicity	White	31%	21%	7%	3%	38%
	Black	80%	4%	0%	11%	5%
	Latino	30%	7%	0%	13%	50%
Education	High school	74%	0%	0%	5%	21%
	Some college	51%	24%	1%	8%	16%
	Bachelor's	18%	14%	21%	12%	35%
Income	<50k	58%	19%	4%	0%	20%
	50k-100k	47%	14%	1%	7%	31%
	>100k	46%	13%	11%	14%	15%
Affiliation	Dem	75%	17%	4%	2%	2%
	Rep	16%	3%	0%	12%	69%
	Ind	43%	29%	5%	22%	2%
Region	Dark Red	44%	0%	0%	12%	44%
	Light Red	94%	2%	0%	4%	0%
	Swing	19%	16%	19%	7%	39%
	Light Blue	24%	57%	8%	11%	0%
	Dark Blue	53%	15%	4%	7%	21%

Methodology. Fielded August 2020 among 254 registered voters nationwide. Responses weighted by Demographics and Spectrum. Average expected error ±6.1%. See Why trust our polls? for the methodology, disclosures and accuracy record.