Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Questions about the integrity of elections have become pervasive in American politics \u2014 and new polling reveals the sharp differences in Republican and Democratic fears.<\/p>\n
Nearly six years after President Donald Trump and his allies sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election, a recent POLITICO Poll<\/a> suggests that a notable number of Americans are distrustful of the system heading into November. More than one-third say it is likely the 2026 midterms will be \u201cstolen,\u201d and one in four say they don\u2019t expect the elections to be fair.<\/p>\n But both parties clash strongly over what they believe are the core problems with U.S. elections, complicating any path to restoring voter trust.<\/p>\n Democrats are concerned about voter intimidation and suppression, with 58 percent of those who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris worried that eligible Americans will be prevented from voting, the survey finds. Meanwhile, Republicans remain focused on the possibility of fraud, with 52 percent of Trump voters saying they are concerned that some ineligible people will be allowed to vote.<\/p>\n The POLITICO Poll asked respondents about 11 common election concerns, ranging from partisan gerrymandering to impounding ballots, and whether people saw them as legitimate parts of the process or a way to rig elections. Of those, Democrats and Republicans had meaningful disagreement or lacked consensus on six.<\/p>\n Take expanding mail-in voting, for example. Once considered a largely routine way to broaden access to voting, a majority of Trump voters now say this can be a way to rig elections. Harris voters feel the opposite: 59 percent say expanding mail-in voting is a normally fair or always fair part of the electoral system.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s deploying ICE at polling locations. A majority of Harris voters say the practice would more likely be a way to sway election results, even as some Republicans haven’t ruled out such a measure to strengthen election security. A 47 percent plurality of Trump voters say deploying ICE across polling stations would be normally fair or always fair.<\/p>\n The poll results reveal a striking truth as lawmakers continue to battle over election security: Even as a sizable share of Americans believe elections can, or will, be \u201cstolen,\u201d there\u2019s very little agreement on what that even means.<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t think that we have a great working definition of what constitutes \u2026 a free and fair election,\u201d said Stephen Richer, a legal fellow at the Cato Institute and former Republican county recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona. \u201cI think it is entirely possible that even within the world that doesn\u2019t think that elections are being hacked by Italian spy satellites, that we have a disagreement as to whether or not we\u2019ve had a free and fair election in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump often claims the 2020 results were \u201cstolen\u201d and blames mail voting, the lack of strict voter ID and proof of citizenship laws for opening the door to voter fraud \u2014 though courts and election officials have repeatedly upheld the legitimacy of those results. Many Democrats, on the other hand, are already bracing for Trump to interfere with the election and strategizing about ways to respond<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters,\u201d White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.<\/p>\n Doubt about election proceedings has still not overtaken the electorate \u2014 nearly half of Americans say they still expect the 2026 midterms to be fair. But the survey \u2014 along with interviews with election experts \u2014 underscores how rhetoric from leaders is trickling down to voters.<\/p>\n David Becker, the executive director and founder of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research, said the divergence results partly from the strict echo chambers within the Democratic and Republican parties.<\/p>\n \u201cThis goes back to the problem where many of us are retreating into our media bubbles, where we hear a reality that only serves to validate our existing opinions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For Democrats, their doubts appear to be going up as Trump continues to repeat false claims about the 2020 election and raise alarms about the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n Nearly 40 percent of Harris voters say it is likely the 2026 midterms will be \u201cstolen,\u201d compared to 16 percent who believed the 2020 election was stolen \u2014 though comparing perspectives on a past election to a future one is not an exact measure. That\u2019s roughly the same level as Trump voters who doubt the integrity of the 2020 results or who fear the 2026 midterms will be stolen \u2014 both at around 40 percent \u2014 according to the poll results.<\/p>\n The survey finds that some of the most significant areas of disagreement or distance between the parties are the prospect of ICE showing up at polls, mail-in voting, and requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.<\/p>\n Roughly 60 percent of Harris voters say ICE showing up at polling places would normally or always be a way to steal elections, compared to 33 percent of Trump voters who say the same.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has insisted that immigration officers will not be at polling places<\/a> in November, but many Democrats have still expressed concern over the possibility. In March, nine state secretaries of state wrote a letter<\/a> to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin seeking confirmation that immigration agents would not be present at polling locations in November.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have ICE outside of a handful of voting locations, I think that there are some on the left of the pro-democracy coalition, or the previously existing pro-democracy coalition, who would say that it invalidates the fairness of an election,\u201d Richer said. \u201cAnd then there are those of us who would say \u2026 it’s not ideal, and there are legal remedies, but that doesn’t mean that the election was stolen or should be thrown out.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2020 election marked a major turning point in rhetoric surrounding mail-in voting, when Trump repeatedly criticized the practice during the COVID-19 pandemic \u2014 allegations he has continued to press in the years since<\/a>.<\/p>\n Roughly 55 percent of Harris voters say banning mail-in voting could lead to a rigged election, while Trump voters are split on the issue: 41 percent say banning mail-in voting would largely be fair, while 42 percent say this would be a way to steal an election.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s the question of voter registration, and whether to require proof of citizenship when voters register \u2014 a core objective of Trump\u2019s SAVE America Act<\/a>. Just under two-thirds of Trump voters say this would always or normally be a fair part of the election process. A plurality of Harris voters agree, but by a much smaller margin: 44 percent say this would be a fair election practice.<\/p>\n Even the idea of voter roll maintenance \u2014 a common part of election administration that Trump\u2019s Justice Department has intensified<\/a> by aiming to strip non-citizens from every state\u2019s rolls \u2014 shows a partisan gap. Roughly 60 percent of Harris voters say the practice of \u201cpurging voter rolls\u201d is normally or always a way to steal an election, compared to just 46 percent of Trump voters.<\/p>\n There are areas where the parties agree. Pluralities or majorities of both groups agree that same-day voter registration and signing up new voters outside of churches are largely fair.<\/p>\n Majorities of both Trump and Harris voters say partisan gerrymandering can be a way to steal elections, which comes as officials in both parties engage in an intensifying redistricting arms race<\/a>. There is also a near-majority consensus that seizing or impounding ballots can be a way to rig results. Earlier this year, the FBI<\/a>seized 2020 election ballots from the Fulton County elections office in Georgia, and a federal judge recently ruled<\/a> that the Justice Department can keep the election records as part of its search.<\/p>\n Still, election experts say the overall partisan divide is dampening voters\u2019 confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve now had multiple years in a row of state legislators passing and introducing and passing laws that are targeting voter access \u2014 making it harder to participate in the electoral process \u2014 where the actual mechanics of elections have been politicized, and that too takes its toll,\u201d said Wendy Weiser, the Brennan Center for Justice’s vice president for democracy.<\/p>\n