Why The California Recall Is Not a Harbinger of What Is to Come on COVID As a Campaign Issue

Some have interpreted Governor Gavin Newsom’s win in the California recall election as a mandate for Democrats to go strong on COVID in their election campaigns. Supporting COVID measures to protect the public is the right stance for any elected official regardless of how the votes may fall, but there […] Read more »

Surging Delta Variant Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths Are Biggest Drivers Of Recent Uptick in U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Rates

More than 7 in 10 adults (72%) in the U.S. now report that they are at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, with the surge in disease and death driven by the Delta variant serving as the chief impetus in recent weeks, finds the latest KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor. That was […] Read more »

Voting Amid COVID: The Response of Voters to Voting during the Pandemic

This paper is a tour of mostly public opinion evidence about how COVID affected the experience of voters as they cast ballots in 2020. Topics covered include turnout, reasons for not voting, precautions observed in polling places, and the confidence voters felt about whether the layout of voting locations protected […] Read more »

U.S. Adults’ Estimates of COVID-19 Hospitalization Risk

The American public’s understanding of the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines may have been put to the test in recent weeks as national public health leaders openly debated whether a booster shot is needed for the general population. Meanwhile, a large gap in vaccination rates persists between Democrats and Republicans, possibly […] Read more »