The results are in: How CREDO members feel about the 2020 election

With only 27 days to go, Election Day is almost upon us. 

As the news cycle twists and turns by the hour, millions of Americans across the country are already casting their ballots in an election that could determine the fate of so many progressive issues we care so deeply about.

Last month, we sent our members a “Progressive Voter Survey” with a series of questions about how they will cast their ballots and their concerns for a fair, safe and accurate election. 

After thousands of responses, the results are in: our members are more excited than ever to vote, but they have some concerns.

Since we were pretty certain most CREDO members plan to vote, we first asked them how they will vote. A vast majority — 67% — plan to vote by mail, compared to combined 29% who will either vote early in-person (19%) or in-person on Election Day (10%).

Next, as recent news reports revealed issues with mail delivery and possible political manipulation at the postal service, we asked if members were concerned that the USPS may not deliver their ballots on time. 

A whopping 84% of CREDO members have some level of concern that ballots may not be delivered on time, with 45% either extremely or very concerned.

Next, we asked members about their feelings on the safety of in-person voting. A plurality of respondents (47%) believe that in-person voting will be safe, compared to 20% who believe it will not be safe, and 31% who are not sure.

We always say this election is the most important in our lifetime, so maybe there’s some bias at play, but we asked members how important this year’s election is to them. Not surprisingly, 98% believe this election is the “most important” or “more important than normal.”

Next, we asked about voter suppression. 48% of CREDO members agree that voter suppression is happening in their state, with voter ID requirements and limits on mail-in voting as the top types of voter suppression tactics they are aware of.

Lastly, we asked about racial justice and the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement. A majority of our members (85%) believe BLM will influence the outcome of the election, with 64% believing it will increase voter turnout for Joe Biden and 47% believing it will persuade voters to choose Joe Biden at the ballot box. Conversely, only 15% believe it will drive turnout for Donald Trump, and 10% believe it will persuade voters to vote for Trump.

If you haven’t voted yet or would like to get involved in this year’s election, here are some resources for you:

• Check your registration, register to vote and request an absentee ballot at Vote.org.
• Write letters to voters and strengthen our democracy with proven techniques to increase turnout at Vote Forward.
• Sign up to be a poll worker for the November 3rd election.
• Sign up to be an Election Protection volunteer to stop voter suppression.
• Learn about your voting rights and find other election resources that we compiled from our partners at the ACLU