What’s on the minds of voters this election?

In the last few days before Election Day, Franklin & Marshall College has released it’s October polling data. 

The poll surveyed 558 likely voters in Pennsylvania, including 268 Democrats, 229 Republicans and 61 independents. 

The October poll has a 5 percent margin of error. 

Let’s take a look: 

The Issues

Respondents ranked COVID-19 the most important problem facing Pennsylvania (27 percent).

Rounding out the top 5 were:  

Government and politics; 16 percent

Unemployment, personal finance; 10 percent

Economy, finances; 8 percent

Taxes; 6 percent

Voting

Up slightly from September, 98 percent of respondents said they were certain to vote in the Nov. 3 general election. 

42 … the percentage of respondents who said they would vote by mail-in ballot. 

4 … the percentage of respondents who said they would vote by absentee ballot. 

53 … the percentage of respondents who said they would vote in person. 

1 … the percentage of respondents who said they did not know how they plan to vote. 

Of those respondents who said they would vote via mail-in or absentee ballot, 85 percent said they have completed and returned ballot. 

For or Against? 

Seventy-eight percent of respondents who said they were voting for Donald Trump said the vote was for him, rather than against Biden. 

Fifty-four percent of respondents who said they were voting for Joe Biden said the vote was against Trump while 44 percent said their vote was for Biden. 

Cassie Miller is writer for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, where this article first appeared.

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