Oklahoma voters oppose government restrictions on private businesses requiring vaccines, poll shows

Aug. 4—As Oklahoma's Republican legislators urge Gov. Kevin Stitt to call a special session or sign an executive order restricting private businesses from requiring employees to get vaccinated, local polling shows their voter base does not support this move.

According to the latest polling done by Oklahoma City's Cole Hargrave Snodgrass and Associates, 57% of Oklahoma voters believe that the government "should not interfere in private businesses making decisions on whether or not to vaccinate their employees."

That number is even larger when Republicans are asked that question. According to the polling, 65% of Republicans believe the government should not interfere with what a business does in regards to vaccinations.

The survey was conducted between July 19-22, it polled 500 registered voters and has a margin of error of 4.3%.

This polling comes at a time when Republicans in the state legislature are urging Stitt to interfere with how private businesses conduct themselves and ban them from requiring their employees to be vaccinated.

"Oklahomans have made their voices heard — they do not want to be forced by the government, or any business, to take any type of vaccine," said state Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, in a statement. "Why do we have to use such force to get so many people to do something that's allegedly good for them?"

But, according to the polling, this statement and the sentiment that the Republicans in the state legislature are fighting on behalf of their base in these matters doesn't hold up. Republicans across the state don't want the government to tell them what they can or can't do; instead, they want the free market to take care of itself, said Pat McFerron, pollster and president of CHSA.

"Here's an analogy: There are some conservatives who threw fits when the Norman City Council and Mayor [Breea] Clark wanted to close hair salons, restaurants and business during the COVID outbreak and now there are some of those same people who want the government to interfere with businesses. So where is the consistency?" McFerron said. "Most Oklahomans don't want the government to interfere on either side. They don't want the government to tell them to do something and they don't want the government to tell them not to do something."

The polling also found that when it comes to businesses having the right to require vaccines, voters are split. Forty-nine percent believe businesses do have the right compared to 47% believing otherwise.

That number is split mostly along party lines, with 70% of Democrats believing businesses have the right compared to only 33% of Republicans agreeing with that. Similarly, 63% of Republicans believe businesses do not have that right compared to only 24% of Democrats believing they do not have that right.

The polling also found the majority of people on both sides of the aisle don't want the government to require vaccines for citizens. According to the CNHA poll, only 20% of voters believe the government should require vaccines, with that number consisting of only 9% for Republicans and 36% for Democrats.

The poll also found that the majority of voters believe that as a patient they have the right to know whether or not their medical provider is vaccinated.

Sixty percent of all voters believe they have the right to know the vaccination status of their medical provider. That number is significantly higher when it comes to Democrats, where 78% believe patients have the right to know, while Republicans are slightly against this sentiment with 50% saying patients do not have the right to know the status.

Vaccines are trusted

Across the board, the majority of voters believe vaccines are "safe and effective" regardless of political party affiliation, the poll shows.

Sixty-five percent of voters agree vaccines are safe and effective while only 27% believe otherwise. Eighty-one percent of Democrats believe vaccines are safe and effective compared to only 15% believing otherwise. The poll showed even the majority of Republicans trust vaccines, with 53% believing they are safe and effective and only 38% believing otherwise.

There is also a stark divide between urban and rural trust in vaccinations. In the rural areas of the state — where most of the current surge in COVID-19 cases is taking place — only 58% voters believe the vaccines are safe and effective while 36% do not believe they are safe and effective.

In urban areas, the poll shows 72% of voters believe the vaccines to be safe and effective while only 19% believe them to not be safe and effective.

Reese Gorman covers politics and COVID-19 for The Transcript; reach him at rgorman@normantranscript.com or @reeseg_3.