JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A new poll released Tuesday from the University of North Florida finds presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden as the frontrunner in the presidential race among Florida voters.
The same poll also reveals that the majority of Florida voters believe state officials have eased off of social-distancing restrictions too quickly amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the poll, released by the Public Opinion Research Lab at UNF, 51 percent of the voters surveyed said they intend to vote for Biden and 45 percent said they would vote for President Donald Trump. One percent would vote for someone else and 3 percent are still unsure, the poll says.
The poll also asked participating voters if the most recent presidential debate was influential in their voting decision. The poll says only 27 percent of responding voters reported the debate was "very or somewhat" influential in their decision. The remaining 73 percent indicated it was not influential at all, according to the poll's data.
The poll also noted about 42 percent of responding voters indicated they plan on voting by mail, with early and election day in-person at just 29 percent each.
“This vast majority of responses from this survey were collected on the two days immediately following the debate and do not account for voter concerns following the President’s recent COVID-19 diagnosis,” Dr. Binder, director of the Public Opinion Research Lab, said. ”This large six-point gap between the candidates is likely attributed to the immediate aftermath of the debate. However, this is Florida, and I expect the election results to be very close once all the votes are counted.”
The poll shows 46 percent of participants approve of President Trump while 53 percent disapprove. Forty-seven percent of participants approve of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' performance while 51 percent disapprove.
“All of the Republican leaders in the state are underwater in their approval ratings,” Binder said. “Perhaps due to voter’s concerns about their connections to Trump.”
The poll also asked participants about the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In regards to the federal government's response, 61 percent of participants said the federal government is not doing enough to support the economy during the pandemic, 9 percent said it is doing too much and 29 percent said the federal government is doing the right amount.
The poll shows a similar trend in regard to the state government. Fifty-nine percent of polled voters said the state government is not doing enough, 6 percent say it is doing too much and 34 percent said the right amount is being done.
When asked about easing social-distancing restrictions, the poll shows 52 percent of respondents said the state government is moving too quickly, 16 percent said it is moving to slow and 32 percent said the government is moving fast enough.
Respondents were also asked their perspective on racial inequality. When asked if Black people and white people receive equal treatment by police, 56 percent of respondents strongly or somewhat disagreed.
When asked the same questions about police treatment of Hispanic people and white people, 53 percent of respondents disagreed, according to the poll. About 53 percent of participants believe police-involved deaths of Black people are signs of a broad problem of systemic racism, rather than isolated incidents, the poll says.
For the full poll results, click here.