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.
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.
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.
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!
