Broward County voters overwhelmingly support mask and vaccine mandates in schools along with other COVID-19 mitigation efforts, a new poll from MDW Communications shows.

According to the poll,  about 75% of respondents support mask mandates at the high school and middle school levels. Elementary school mask mandates got 74.4% support. And nearly 88% of respondents said they support current vaccine requirements, while 70% said they support adding COVID-19 vaccines to the list of vaccines required to attend Broward public schools. Another 81% support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation to quarantine students exposed to COVID-19 for 14 days.

The poll also shows 68% of respondents think Gov. Ron DeSantis has done a poor job of handling COVID-19 in schools.

"Governor DeSantis is punishing local officials for following guidance from health experts," says Andrew Dolberg of MDW Communications. "This poll makes clear that Broward voters want school board members to stand firm, regardless of pressure from Tallahassee."

Broward Schools has eased some of its mask requirements in recent weeks as COVID-19 numbers in Florida continue to trend downward. But Broward, which is the second-largest school district in the state, was among the first to openly defy DeSantis's wish to ban mask mandates in schools. When the Florida Department of Education withheld funds in retaliation, the federal government stepped in with a U.S. Department of Education Project Safe Grant of $420,957.

DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody staunchly oppose mask and vaccine mandates, even threatening to sue the federal government for instituting them. Sen Joe Gruters, chair of the Republican Party of Florida, filed legislation to remove forced vaccinations from Florida law.

Republican leadership in the state claims in local and national media that Floridians are tired of COVID-19 mandates, but the MDW poll says otherwise.

"This data generally shows that the opposition to school COVID-19 policies comes from an overly vocal minority," says Dolberg. "Passion from a small selection of protestors should not be relied on to determine general public opinion."

The poll was conducted on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. The results are based on responses from 1,000 randomly selected registered voters in Broward County. MDW said the poll has a margin of error of +/-3.1% at a 95% confidence level.