The Star Tribune, MPR News and KARE 11 interviewed 800 Minnesota likely voters between Sept. 21 and Sept. 23. Findings from questions about race, the criminal justice system and the Black Lives Matter movement are below. Results from the August 2020 Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota poll, in which Minneapolis voters were asked several of these questions, are also included. Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Scroll down the page for details about how the poll was conducted, a map of the Minnesota regions used in this poll and the demographics of the 800 respondents.

Do you think the death of George Floyd was an isolated incident, or a sign of broader problems in the treatment of Black people by Minneapolis police?

Isolated
incident 		Broader
problems 		Not
sure
36% 52% 12%
Isolated
incident		 Broader
problems		 Not
sure
Hennepin/ Ramsey 23% 69% 8%
Rest of metro 40 47 13
Southern Minn. 43 48 9
Northern Minn. 44 35 21
Men 39 48 13
Women 34 55 11
DFL/ Democrat 17 75 8
Republican 59 27 14
Independent/ other 35 50 15
Under 50 33 56 11
50+ 39 48 13
No college degree 39 47 14
College graduate 34 57 9
White 38 50 12
Nonwhite 25 64 11
Biden voters 12 83 5
Trump voters 71 17 12

Do you think the criminal justice system does or does not treat Black people and white people equally?

Yes,
it does 		No,
it does not 		Not
sure
31% 56% 13%
Yes,
it does		 No,
it does not		 Not
sure
Hennepin/ Ramsey 21% 70% 9%
Rest of metro 36 54 10
Southern Minn. 38 52 10
Northern Minn. 35 43 22
Men 37 52 11
Women 26 60 14
DFL/ Democrat 12 77 11
Republican 56 34 10
Independent/ other 28 55 17
Under 50 25 64 11
50+ 37 49 14
No college degree 35 52 13
College graduate 27 61 12
White 32 56 12
Nonwhite 27 59 14
Biden voters 6 84 10
Trump voters 65 23 12

In your opinion, which one of the following is a bigger problem right now: Police violence against Black people nationwide, or civilian violence against people and property in U.S. cities?

Police
violence 		Civilian
violence 		Not
sure
35% 52% 13%
Police
violence		 Civilian
violence		 Not
sure
Hennepin/ Ramsey 48% 36% 16%
Rest of metro 30 55 15
Southern Minn. 36 60 4
Northern Minn. 22 65 13
Men 33 56 11
Women 38 48 14
DFL/ Democrat 59 24 17
Republican 12 84 4
Independent/ other 32 51 17
Under 50 41 44 15
50+ 31 59 10
No college degree 30 58 12
College graduate 41 46 13
White 34 53 13
Nonwhite 44 41 15
Biden voters 64 18 18
Trump voters 5 94 1

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Black Lives Matter movement?

Favorable Unfavorable Not sure
42% 46% 12%
Favorable Unfavorable Not sure
Hennepin/ Ramsey 58% 28% 14%
Rest of metro 37 52 11
Southern Minn. 32 54 14
Northern Minn. 33 58 9
Men 35 51 14
Women 49 41 10
DFL/ Democrat 69 13 18
Republican 13 80 7
Independent/ other 42 49 9
Under 50 48 42 10
50+ 38 50 12
No college degree 38 51 11
College graduate 46 40 14
White 42 47 11
Nonwhite 47 39 14
Biden voters 76 5 19
Trump voters 4 92 4

About the poll

The findings of this Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll are based on live interviews conducted Sept. 21 to Sept. 23 with 800 Minnesota voters who indicated they were "likely to vote" in the November general election. The poll was conducted for the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio News and KARE 11 by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy Inc.
The sample for this survey was drawn from a Mason-Dixon database that includes approximately 2.2 million registered Minnesota voters who are matched with a telephone number – either a land line, a cell phone or both. A random sample of 100,000 voters from unique households with unique phones was drawn from this database for use in calling on this poll.
Those interviewed were randomly selected by computer from this phone-matched Minnesota voter registration file with quotas assigned to generally reflect the state's voter turnout distribution by county. For example, Hennepin County and Ramsey County combined accounted for 32.3% of the statewide vote in the 2016 presidential election, and accordingly 32.5% of the survey interviews were completed there. The interviews were conducted via land line (28%) and cellphone (72%).
The margin of sampling error for this sample of 800 likely voters, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than ± 3.5 percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if all voters were surveyed. The margin of error is higher for any subgroup, such as a gender or age grouping.
The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents is 38% Democrats, 34% Republicans and 28% independents or other.
Sampling error does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion surveys, such as nonresponse, question wording or context effects. In addition, news events may have affected opinions during the period the poll was taken.
The demographic profile of this poll of likely voters is an accurate reflection of their respective voter populations. This determination is based on more than 100 statewide polls conducted by Mason-Dixon in Minnesota over the past 32 years – a period that spans eight presidential election cycles that began in 1988.
Readers can e-mail questions to matt.delong@startribune.com.

Demographic breakdown of this polling sample

PARTY
DFL/ Democrat 307 (38%)
Republican 271 (34%)
Independent/ other 222 (28%)
AGE
18-34 146 (18%)
35-49 229 (29%)
50-64 234 (29%)
65+ 184 (23%)
Refused 7 (1%)
RACE
White/ Caucasian 700 (87%)
Black/ African American 41 (5%)
Hispanic/ Latino 23 (3%)
Asian/ Pacific Islander 9 (1%)
Other 20 (3%)
Refused 7 (1%)
GENDER ID
Men 384 (48%)
Women 414 (52%)
Other 2 (<1%)
REGION
Hennepin/ Ramsey 260 (33%)
Rest of metro 215 (27%)
Southern Minnesota 155 (19%)
Northern Minnesota 170 (21%)
EDUCATION
High school
or less		 168 (21%)
Some college/
Vocational		 241 (30%)
College graduate 252 (31%)
Graduate degree 127 (16%)
Refused 12 (2%)
INTERVIEW
Land-line 227 (28%)
Cell Phone 573 (72%)