America Speaks: What are their post-election priorities?

A week after Election Day 2020, what are the priorities of Americans across the country?

We asked our YouGov Chat users to dig deep and tell us what issues they think should take center stage, post-election. You can join the conversation here.

For Chat users who say they voted for Joe Biden, many point to the coronavirus pandemic.

• “Get a handle on COVID by whatever means necessary. Period. Then we can talk about other issues. All are moot until we wrap our heads around the virus and do what we have to do to stop it.”
• “First: PASS A GODD*MN STIMULUS PACKAGE THAT INCLUDES THE $600 PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE AND HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESSES!”
• “A coordinated COVID strategy...”
• “COVID has got to be taken care of. Something has to be done if it means requiring masks and enlisting the National Guard to enforce it then so be it.”
• “First is COVID. It’s out of control. Need vaccine and additional stimulus to help people get by. Stimulus should be needs based. Can’t get to the economy until COVID is fixed...”

Other Chat users say health care should be a top priority.

• “Universal Basic Income and Healthcare for all.”
• “Current Health care system is an abomination and need to be accessible.”
• “Healthcare -- Medicare for All.”

Many YouGov Chat users say race relations and policing in America is a primary concern.

• “Fighting systemic racism.”
• “Racism in policing.”
• “Systemic racism, inequality in pay between races and genders...”
• “Systemic racism and over policing.”

Other users say climate change and the environment is a top priority.

• “Climate change, social justice, universal health care.”
• “Undo the damage that Trump has done to the Climate, Environment and to Wildlife.”
• “Paris Climate Accord”

Division and unity were also important to users...

• “Division in the country”
• “Uniting the country, repairing international relations, police reform and civil rights, keeping the ACA...”
• “UNITING THE NATION”

Among YouGov Chat users who say they voted for Donald Trump, many say that protecting their freedom is a top priority.

• “To maintain our freedom regardless of who is in power. I want to keep my constitutional rights.”
• “Keep trying to make sure our country remains free and that liberties are kept for all
• "Freedom!”
• “First Amendment, Second Amendment, Religious freedom”
• “Continue to push for limited government, freedom, and liberty.”

Other Chat users say the economy and finances are most important to them.

• “Economy, trade, opportunity for people struggling to get by.”
• “The economy, getting people back to work, defeating any tax increases, and term limits...”
• “Watching our finances...”

Some users say that corruption, in multiple forms, is a top priority.

• “Work to fix corruption in polling and media.”
• “Holding all the law-breaking politicians accountable on both sides of the aisle...”
• “Too much corruption in the voting process.”

Not all Chat users have post-election priorities related to politics. Some say they are taking time to step away and focus on their personal lives.

• “Get through the rest of 2020 and have my baby next month.”
• “To return to normalcy.”
• “Vacation and winter sports.”
• “Vacation and visiting with relatives.”

----------------

Every day, members of YouGov Chat are asked to share their opinion on a topic in the news. We allow anyone to take part in these chats, and do not display or weight results in real-time. Instead, to make the experience informative but still interactive, the chat displays weighted data from YouGov Direct to show them how the rest of the country voted. This enables us to pose the question to all, while retaining data accuracy and validity when communicating results.

YouGov chat seeks to add to the ‘what?’ (the quantitative poll result) by finding the ‘why?” (qualitative open ends) in a member’s own words. Learn more about YouGov Chat here.

Image: YouGov