POLL: Wide Majority of Americans Support Mask Mandate Punishable by Fines, Jail Time

A new poll from Morning Consult/Politico reveals that a solid majority of Americans support a mask mandate that would implement fines of jail time for those that refuse to wear masks in public places.

The asks registered voters if they’d support a mandated implemented by their state government. 72% of of responding registered voters stated that they’d “strongly” or “somewhat” support a state-implemented mask mandate that is punishable by jail time or fines.

The poll asked the following question.

“Based on what you know about the COVID-19 pandemic (coronavirus), would you support or oppose your state instituting a face mask mandate in public spaces, where not wearing a mask could be punishable by fine or jail time?”

Curiously, Baby Boomers, one of America’s most conservative voting demographics, support a mask mandate most strenuously. 78% of Boomers support the mask mandate. Millennials (68%) and Generation Z (63%) support it the least, although wide majorities still do.

Democrats support the mask mandate in almost unanimous fashion, with 86% of them supporting it. A solid majority of Republicans support mandatory masks as well, with a majority of 58%.

There simply is widespread public support for wearing a mask and taking limited measures to deter the spread of coronavirus in the United States. Republicans and conservatives risk alienating such popular sentiment at their own electoral peril.

President Donald Trump has increasingly emphasized the wearing of masks as the public works to control the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has taken more than 130,000 lives in the United States.