Most Democrats in new poll say its too early to lift mask mandates

Most Democratic voters say that it is too soon for states to end mandatory masking requirements, according to a Politico-Morning Consult poll released Wednesday.

The poll comes as a number of Democratic leaders have begun to lift mask mandates in their areas.

Of respondents who identified as Democrats, 68 percent said they think “it is too early for states to rescind mask mandates,” while 17 percent said that now is the right time to make the move.

Less than half of independent and Republican respondents agreed, with 42 percent of independents saying it is too soon to end mask mandates and 21 percent of Republicans saying they feel it is the right time for the move.

Republican respondents’ most likely response, at 28 percent, was that states never should have had mask mandates at all, followed by 25 percent who believe the mask mandates should have already been lifted. Twenty-two percent said that now is the right time for them to be lifted, and 20 percent said they think that it is too soon to lift the mandates.

The poll showing the wide split between the two parties comes as a number of Democratic leaders have made moves to loosen restrictions.

Several Democratic governors and mayors announced last week that they would be lifting mask requirements throughout their states and cities, despite the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still recommending that people mask indoors in most situations and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky having said that the CDC will not be relaxing masking recommendations in the immediate future.

President Biden also said last week that the lifting of mask requirements was “probably premature” and “science is saying now masks work, masks make a difference.” 

“I committed that I would follow the science, the science as put forward by the CDC and the federal people,” said Biden.

The Politico-Morning Consult poll was conducted on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 with a sample size of 2,005 registered voters. The full survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.