Pew: Americans Plan To Closely Following Election Returns

With Nov. 3 just a couple of weeks away, attention to news about the presidential election has increased, and for the first time in 2020, Americans are paying as much attention to news about the election (75% of U.S. adults are following it very or fairly closely) as they are to the coronavirus pandemic (79% are following it very or fairly closely). In fact, about six-in-ten U.S. adults (57%) say they are getting news about the candidates at least “several times a day,” with about two-in-ten (22%) saying they get this news “almost all the time.” Amid questions over how absentee ballot counting could impact the timing and acceptance of election results, a new Pew Research Center analysis finds that roughly half of U.S. adults (48%) intend to tune in very closely to news coverage after polls close on election night.

According to the survey of 10,059 U.S. adults conducted Oct. 6-12, 2020, as part of the Center’s American News Pathways project, most Americans (82%) express confidence in the news outlets they rely on most for political news to “to make the right call when announcing the winner” after the polls close. The study also examines registered voters’ views of election news. While supporters of Donald Trump and Joe Biden express similar intentions to tune in to election night news coverage (among registered voters, 59% of Trump supporters and 62% of Biden supporters say they will follow the results very closely), Biden supporters express greater confidence that their news sources will make the right call (49%) than Trump supporters (34%).



The study also finds that despite the president announcing that he had tested positive for COVID-19 in early October, Democrats and Republicans remain worlds apart on the question of whether the U.S. has controlled the outbreak as much as it could have. About seven-in-ten Republicans and independents who lean Republican (71%) say that the U.S. has controlled the outbreak as much as it could have – compared with just 10% of Democrats and Democratic leaners who say the same. An overwhelming majority of Democrats (89%) say that the U.S. has not controlled the outbreak as much as it could have, compared with about three-in-ten Republicans (28%). Differences emerge within party by media diet, but the numbers are essentially unchanged from a survey conducted in early September. (Read more.)

Among the report’s other key findings:

• When it comes to where Americans plan to follow election night returns, the largest segment of U.S. adults (60%) say they plan to tune in to national network TV (ABC, CBS, NBC or PBS). Cable TV (55%) and news websites (54%) are close behind, while 42% name social media and 28% plan to turn directly to presidential campaigns and candidates for results. About three-quarters of U.S. adults say they will use two or more of these news sources (74%).
• Different election night viewing preferences emerge between Trump and Biden supporters. Among registered voters, Biden supporters stand apart from Trump supporters in their intention to turn to network TV (78% vs. 49%), while Trump supporters (37%) are more likely than Biden supporters (26%) to say they will look to the presidential candidates and campaigns for election night returns.
• Among registered voters, supporters of both Trump (68%) and Biden (77%) largely agree on the question of whether the news media should emphasize inaccurate statements made by candidates so the public knows when a statement is false. However, there is disagreement about whether the media should do the same with offensive statements: 76% of Biden supports say that they should be emphasized compared with 55% of Trump supporters, a gap in line with the one between Trump and Hillary Clinton supporters in 2016.
• Two-thirds of U.S. adults say that correcting inaccurate statements made by a candidate is a major responsibility of the news media, but there are differences among registered voters by candidate support. Fully 86% of Biden supporters describe this as a major responsibility of the news media, far outpacing the roughly half (54%) of Trump supporters who feel this way. These figures are consistent with 2016.
• When it comes to understanding how news organizations decide to announce who has won the presidential election by state, just under half of Americans (44%) say that news organizations announce who has won a state when the organization feels confident in vote returns, 26% say news organizations make the announcement once state officials certify the results and 30% said they were not sure.
• Among registered voters, Biden supporters are more likely (59%) than Trump supporters (37%) to say they find it easy to determine what is true and what is not about the presidential campaign. Nearly the same percentage of Trump supporters (62%) say they find it difficult.
• Most Americans (84%) say the news sources they turn to most often are covering the 2020 presidential election well. Three-in-ten U.S. adults say their most-relied on news sources have covered the election “very well,” while about half (53%) say these outlets have covered it “somewhat well.” About a third of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say their most-used news sources have covered the presidential election “very well” (36%) compared with 24% of Republicans and Republican leaners who say the same.
• Respondents were asked to rate how well the news sources they turn to most often are covering six specific aspects of the 2020 election. On all aspects, including “what voters need to do in order to cast a ballot in an election,” “candidates’ comments and statements,” “which candidate is leading the race” and “how the coronavirus outbreak is impacting the election,” Democrats rate their news sources more highly than Republicans.
• One area of difference between registered voters who are Trump supporters and those who are Biden supporters is the degree of weariness brought on by keeping up with the news about the presidential campaign and candidates. About two-thirds of registered voters who support Trump (65%) say they are worn out by so much news coverage, compared with just over half (54%) of Biden supporters who say the same.
• Public opinion of COVID-19 news coverage changed somewhat following President Trump’s infection, but most partisan gaps remain. With the coronavirus outbreak having spread to the White House, Americans are now almost equally divided on the question of whether the outbreak has been exaggerated or underplayed. And after trending downward for several months, the percentage of Americans “very closely” following news about the coronavirus outbreak remains steady. Still, Democrats and independents who lean Democratic (47%) are more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners (27%) to follow news about the coronavirus “very closely.”
• The attitudes of those Republicans who rely most on Trump and his task force for news about the coronavirus did not shift in a significant way following his diagnosis. This group is consistently more likely than other Republicans to say the outbreak has been exaggerated. Fully 72% say the outbreak has been exaggerated, compared with 59% of other Republicans. The study also found differences within party on this question based on use of eight major sources of political and election news.