AP VoteCast: South Carolina voters sour on state of nation

By The Associated Press
Voters in South Carolina made their pick for president while holding negative views about the country's direction, according to an expansive AP survey of the American electorate.
The race between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden concluded Tuesday as the nation remains in the throes of a global public health crisis and mired in the economic downturn it brought on. AP VoteCast found that 43% of South Carolina voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 56% of voters said it is headed in the wrong direction.
Here's a snapshot of who voted and what matters to them, based on preliminary results from AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of about 127,000 voters and nonvoters -- including 2,740 voters and 660 nonvoters in South Carolina -- conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.
FACING THE PANDEMIC
The coronavirus pandemic has spread through the U.S. for roughly eight months, killing more than 230,000 Americans. Overall, 21% of voters said the virus in the U.S. is completely or mostly under control, and 32% said it's somewhat under control. Forty-six percent of voters think the coronavirus is not at all under control in this country.
ON THE ISSUES
The coronavirus pandemic was top of mind for many voters in South Carolina. Thirty-six percent said it is the most important issue facing the country today.
Voters also considered the economy a major issue, with 31% saying it ranked at the top.
Nine percent named health care, 9% named racism and 5% named law enforcement.
NATIONAL ECONOMY
Voters were closely divided in their assessments of the nation's economy. Overall, 48% described economic conditions in the U.S. as excellent or good, and 52% called them not so good or poor.

AP created this story automatically using results from AP VoteCast, a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for Fox News, NPR, PBS NewsHour, Univision News, USA Today Network, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. The survey of 2,740 voters in South Carolina was conducted for eight days, concluding as polls closed. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The survey combines a random sample of registered voters drawn from the state voter file and self-identified registered voters selected from nonprobability online panels. The margin of sampling error for voters is estimated to be plus or minus 2.4 percentage points. Find more details about AP VoteCast's methodology at https://ap.org/votecast.