recently. “At the same time, the most urban counties, despite a modest population increase of 2%, [have] seen a decline of 5 % in registered voters.”suggests that the pandemic might have at least temporarily reversed the longstanding trend of large metro areas growing while smaller towns shrink. Some of the changes are attributable to domestic migration — big city dwellers seeking more space and cheaper rent in smaller cities and suburbs.
The Gallup Poll doesn’t adjust their samples for party identification, said Jeff Jones, a senior editor., to make sure their samples look like America in terms of race, gender, region and educational attainment. “It seems like those Republican areas have been harder hit [by COVID-19] and that might have an effect,” Yost said. “But, demographically, people in more urban areas just don’t get out and vote in the same ways.”