ABA survey: Support for online voting jumped after pandemic spread

The vast majority of Americans surveyed also said they are not willing to suspend freedom of speech or freedom of the press during a national emergency such as the current pandemic. But 54% supported suspending the First Amendment right of freedom of assembly during such an emergency.

The results are from the ABA 2020 Survey of Civic Literacy — the second annual survey that is released as part of the nation’s Law Day, celebrated every May 1.

The nationally representative survey was conducted in two parts – March 9-13 and April 7-11 – by DAPA Research. It measured public knowledge and opinions on a variety of legal and civic knowledge topics.

In the March survey, conducted before the pandemic overtook the country, 63% said they opposed allowing Americans to vote online rather than going to a polling booth. But the April poll, conducted when much of the country was under stay-at-home orders, found opposition to online voting shrank to 40%. Support soared from 34% in March to 55% in April.

Asked in April who has the legal authority to issue statewide quarantines or stay-at-home orders, most people (71%) correctly identified governors, but 18% inaccurately thought it was the president.

In both surveys, public support for allowing voting before Election Day was strong.

In other findings:

• Voter fraud and voter IDs:52% said that they believed voter fraud is a major problem in the U.S., and 82% supported requiring voters to present an ID to prove their identity before voting.
• Restoring voting rights:72% supported restoring voting rights to felons who have completed their prison sentences.
• Electoral College:Less than half (46%) knew that votes in the Electoral College are allocated to states based on the number of senators and representatives they have in Congress. One-third thought electoral votes are based on the number of registered voters in each state.
• Equal Rights Amendment:83% supported the ERA, a constitutional amendment that would guarantee equal legal rights to all regardless of gender.
• 19^th Amendment: 57% knew that the 19^th Amendment guaranteed women the national right to vote. Nearly 1 in 5 incorrectly thought it guaranteed rights to all, regardless of gender.
• Supreme Court:While 61% knew that John Roberts is chief justice of the United States, 11% thought it was Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The ABA Division for Public Education and the Law Library of Congress celebrated Law Day with a free public program on the legacy of the 19^th Amendment. Panelists discussed why the 19^th Amendment still matters and how the women’s suffrage movement changed America.