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Voters Want Congress to Investigate Whether Officials Report COVID-19 Cases Accurately

With New York Governor Andrew Cuomo accused of concealing facts about COVID-19 nursing home deaths in his state, most voters want Congress to investigate whether public officials are accurately reporting coronavirus cases.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 65% of Likely U.S. Voters think Congress should investigate whether officials are reporting accurate information about COVID-19 cases. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

While Americans are divided over many issues, support for a congressional investigation into official COVID-19 reports is strong across party lines. Seventy-four percent (74%) of GOP voters support such an investigation, as do 60% of Democrats and 59% of voters not affiliated with either major party.

When it comes to whether officials can be trusted to report COVID-19 information accurately, however, Republicans are significantly more skeptical. Only 13% of GOP voters say they have a lot of trust in information from public officials about the number of cases and the number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic. By contrast, 44% of Democrats say they have a lot of trust in information from public officials about the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Twenty percent (20%) of unaffiliated voters say they have a lot of trust in such information.

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The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on February 14-15, 2021 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Distrust of what public officials are saying about COVID-19 cases is highly correlated with support for a congressional investigation. Of those who say they have a lot of trust in information from public officials about the number of cases and the number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, only 49% say Congress should investigate, compared to 77% support for an investigation among voters who say that don’t trust official information at all.

The rich have more trust in public officials than do the poor. Among voters earning more than $200,000 a year, 45% say they have a lot of trust in information from public officials about the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, compared to just 20% among those earning less than $30,000 a year.

Voters under 40 are more likely than older voters to support a congressional investigation of whether officials are reporting accurate information about COVID-19 cases.

Voters who approve of President Joe Biden are more likely to they have a lot of trust in information from public officials about the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, while those who disapprove of Biden are more likely to support a congressional investigation.

While Congress and President Biden continue wrangling over legislation that would send Americans another round of stimulus checks, a majority of voters say a new round of stimulus checks is necessary to help the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most Americans believe the coronavirus vaccine will eventually contain the pandemic, but still expect to be required to wear masks in public for at least the next six months.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on February 14-15, 2021 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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