GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Undecided voters are always a key element in the results of an election. They were in 2016, when President Trump captured Michigan with a lot of help from that bloc of the electorate. And many experts think – though there may be fewer undecided voters this year – they could play a key role in 2020.
Even the president’s campaign is making a last effort to appeal to undecided voters, making a stop in Grand Rapids to end the campaign as they did in 2016.
“Often undecided voters in a close election do actually decide the election,” said Doug Koopman, a political science professor with Calvin University. “They’re influenced by last minute events, so what’s happening today or even on election day. That’s one reason Trump is in Grand Rapids tonight.”
Koopman says undecided voters tend to be in more rural areas, where candidates spend less time and access to voting information and canvassers are slimmer than in suburban and city areas. In 2016, there was an unusual amount of undecided voters as people made the choice between two new candidates with low favorability ratings. This year, people can make referendums on Trump after his first term in office, and after Biden’s two terms as vice president.
“There really are very few undecided, in Michigan and nationwide,” said Koopman. “Maybe about a third or half as much as there usually are the day before election.”
