August 23, 2021
For Immediate Release:
In a recent poll of 1,222 likely Florida voters over the age of 45, we see a damning cry for mandatory vaccines and facemasks, regardless of their age, gender, or location. When looking at the data, you will see how this issue could strongly shape the next election from the top down, more so than personalities.
Sneak Peak: Out of those surveyed, nearly 85% wear facemasks most of the time, if not all. We see strong opposition to Governor DeSantis’ with-holding of funds based on masking mandates. We also see over 75% saying employment should be conditional upon you getting a vaccination. Additionally, we found 58.7% saying we opened the state up to early.
There were nine questions, and the topline data will be shown on the following pages.
First, this is very telling with nearly 85% saying they would wear a mask in public if they can’t social distance.
| First, do you wear a face mask in public when you can’t social distance? | ||||
| Responses: 1222 | Total | Overall % | ||
| 1. Always | 840 | 68.7% | ||
| 2. Most of the time | 173 | 14.2% | ||
| 3. Sometimes | 104 | 8.5% | ||
| 4. None of the time | 105 | 8.6% |
Additionally, we see that DeSantis is out of step with the most likely voters in Florida when only 29.3% support his wanting to withhold funding from school systems that enact facemask mandates. This issue is what is separating him and his administration from the desires of the voters.
| 2. Do you think Governor Ron DeSantis should withhold funding from school districts that make facemasks mandatory? | ||||
| Responses: 1222 | Total | Overall % | ||
| 1. Yes | 358 | 29.3% | ||
| 2. No | 864 | 70.7% |
To follow up on that was a shock to us here at the Listener Group; we found that 74.5% of those surveyed wanted masks to be mandatory in their local school systems. Again, wanting to be safe than sorry with regards to the children, regardless of their likelihood of getting it or not.
| 3. Next, do you think masks should be mandatory in your local school system? | ||||
| Responses: 1222 | Total | Overall % | ||
| 1. Yes | 910 | 74.5% | ||
| 2. No | 312 | 25.5% |
Also, those surveyed think that if any government was to make a choice about masks in schools, they would prefer it be from local education or school board officials as opposed to dictates from elected officials in Tallahassee.
| 4. Next, do you think the choice of making a mask mandatory or not should be made from officials in Tallahassee or from your local school board officials? | ||||
| Responses: 1222 | Total | Overall % | ||
| 1. Tallahassee | 281 | 23.0% | ||
| 2. Local education leaders | 800 | 65.5% | ||
| 3. Need more information | 141 | 11.5% |
Now, regarding the vaccines, this is very loud, to say the least. First, we have 75.5% who support across the board mandatory vaccinations for Covid-19.
| 5. Now regarding vaccines, do you think do you agree with mandatory vaccinations for Covid 19? | ||||
| Responses: 1222 | Total | Overall % | ||
| 1. Yes | 923 | 75.5% | ||
| 2. No | 299 | 24.5% |
We then see 82.4% saying Covid-19 vaccinations should be mandatory for health care workers.
| 6. Next, you do think all health care workers should have to be vaccinated? | ||||
| Responses: 1222 | Total | Overall % | ||
| 1. Yes | 1007 | 82.4% | ||
| 2. No | 215 | 17.6% |
Additionally, we see 78.1% saying teachers should be vaccinated.
| 7. Do you think all teachers should have to be vaccinated? | ||||
| Responses: 1222 | Total | Overall % | ||
| 1. Yes | 954 | 78.1% | ||
| 2. No | 268 | 21.9% |
And on top of that, for all other employment areas where you are facing more than 5 persons a day, we see that 69.4% saying your need to get vaccinated as a contingent of your employment.
| 8. Now, in the everyday workforce, do you think an employer should mandate you get vaccinated as a condition of your employment? | ||||
| Responses: 1222 | Total | Overall % | ||
| 1. Yes | 848 | 69.4% | ||
| 2. No | 374 | 30.6% |
Finally, this is shocking, but we found 58.7% saying we opened the state up for business too early.
| 9. Finally, do think the state was opened for business too early? | ||||
| Responses: 1222 | Total | Overall % | ||
| 1. Yes | 717 | 58.7% | ||
| 2. No | 505 | 41.3% |
METHODOLOGY:
The persons sampled were Florida likely voters with a voting score of 100% for the primary and general election cycles. The voters called were those only with landlines and were called using an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system and were called during the hours of 1PM to 8PM August 21-22, 2021. The Margin of Error for this study is +/- 3.1% with a confidence level of 95%.
ABOUT THE LISTENER GROUP:
Starting as a call center and market research center in 1998; since 2010 TLG has been serving clients as a full-service Marketing Research, Advertising, Public Relations firm. If your success depends on other people—customers, clients, patients, readers, viewers, and voters in whatever role these people’s opinions of you matter—you need The Listener® Group. Headquartered in Pensacola, we have developed a team that has placed us, continuously, as the most accurate political and public policy polling firm in the Southeastern United States. We deliver a comprehensive blend of market research and advertising products that work in concert to maximize the effectiveness of your message. For more information you can contact Greg Fink at 850.384.7008 or greg@thelistenergroup.com.