Author: Staff Writer
Affiliation: The Washington Post
Organization/Publisher: The Washington Post
Date/Place: November 10, 2020/USA
Type of Literature: Newspaper Article
Word Count: 1825
Keywords: US Elections 2020, Data, Exit Polls, US Demographics
Brief:
This article provides analysis by The Washington Post on the exit polls for the 2020 United States Presidential election. Along with its own data, The Washington Post relied on data provided by Edison Research for the Election Pool, and other media organizations. Exit polls are based on interviews conducted of randomly selected voters as they exit voting places across the country. Early voters were reached by telephone survey. In this particular analysis, the Post presents which groups, divided by race, gender, and political issues favored which candidate. The results show that President-elect Biden won the 2020 election by capturing young, non-White voters who were primarily concerned with the Coronavirus and racial inequality. President Trump failed to win the election. His supporters were primarily concerned with the economy and they were mostly White males. In the run-up to the election, the divide between both candidates is stark regarding what should be the solution to the wealth-health paradox posed by the Coronavirus. Trump supporters argue that the economy is more important than health, while Biden supporters argue that health is more important than the economy. Many commentators have claimed that Biden won most of the women’s vote over and above Trump, however, the data shows that women and men of similar race have backed the same candidate. For example, White women and White men usually favor Trump while Black women and Black men overwhelmingly favor Biden. Biden has similarly polled significantly better among Hispanic voters. The data (indicated by education) also suggests that this election was primarily decided by lower class Americans. More educated voters were split along party lines, however, low class non-Whites overwhelmingly supported Biden while lower class Whites supported Trump. If we assess the exit polls based on religion, the findings are that 3 in 4 White evangelical Protestants supported Trump while everyone else voted for Biden.
By: M. Üveys Han, CIGA Senior Research Associate
