How Does South Dakota Feel About A Mask Mandate and Gov.Noem?

South Dakota State University recently conducted a poll to ask South Dakotans about their feelings towards a mask mandate along with how state and federal officials are handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dakota News Now is reporting that the final results of the South Dakota Voter Survey were released on Thursday. South Dakota State University used the “SDSU Poll,” which university officials tell Dakota News Now is a research unit of its political science program.  The poll focused on two main factors.  One poll asked South Dakotans about the government response to the pandemic.  The second talked about the COVID-19 policy and mitigation efforts.

In a surprising outcome, 56% of registered voters in South Dakota are in favor of a “policy that would make it mandatory to wear a face-covering in all indoor public spaces."  This would include businesses and restaurants.  Around 35% would be against this policy while the other 8% were undecided.

Research shows there is a clear division of opinions when it comes to wearing face masks.  Almost 95% of Democrats support a mask mandate and 25% of Republicans would also stand by this policy. Age also played a part in this poll.  64% of South Dakotans over the age of 60 support a mask mandate.

So how does South Dakota feel about the state and federal government's response to the global pandemic?

On the federal level, 52% disapprove of President Donald Trump's response to COVID-19.  On the other hand, almost 42% were in favor of President Trump's actions during the public health crisis.  7% were undecided.

South Dakota's feelings towards Governor Kristi Noem's response is almost split down the middle.  50.1% of South Dakotans do not approve of how Governor Noem has been handling COVID-19 while 45% approved.

According to Dakota News Now, the "South Dakota Voter Survey was conducted in the first two weeks of October by The SDSU Poll, a research group housed in the School of American and Global Studies at South Dakota State University."  485 registered voters in South Dakota participated in this poll.