Democrats fear in-person voting amid coronavirus pandemic, poll finds

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Democratic voters are notably more worried than Republicans about the safety of in-person voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic, new polling data revealed Tuesday.

According to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index, conducted between Aug. 14-17, liberal voters rate almost every specific activity or situation as "riskier" than Republicans do.

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Sixty-eight percent of Democrats reported that in-person, door-to-door political canvassing would harbor a moderate to large risk to their health while 20 percent fewer Republicans said the same.

FILE - In this April 7, 2020, photo, Doug Milks disinfects voting booths after being used, as voters cast ballots in the state's presidential primary election in Madison, Wis. More than 50 people who voted in person or worked the polls during Wisconsin's election earlier this month have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. But there are no plans to move or otherwise alter a special congressional election coming in less than two weeks. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP File)

In addition, 63 percent of Democrats said in-person voting would be at least moderately risky while just 32 percent of Republicans agreed.

Axios pointed out that while Democrats and the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's campaign are quick to hit President Trump on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, repetitive warnings about social distancing guidelines are also causing Democratic voters to "turn away" from traditionally successful campaign strategies.

Another finding in the survey highlighted that Americans, as a whole, view strangers as a much greater threat to their safety than people they already know.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said coming into close contact with an essential worker would be a moderate or great risk to their health and 59 percent said it would likely be risky to interact with someone who travels for their job.

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Alternatively, just 36 percent agreed that it would be at least moderately risk to see a family member they don't live with and only 38 percent said it would be risky to come in close contact with someone they saw frequently before the pandemic gripped the nation.

A recent Fox News poll found that twice as many Democrats plan to cast an early mail or absentee vote, while twice as many Republicans will vote in person on Election Day.

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Thus far, Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reports, the United States now has over 5.4 million confirmed cases and just over 171,100 deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the states currently with the highest-reported infection rates include California, Florida, and Texas.