Nov. 6 (UPI) — A Gallup poll found that seven out of 10 Americans are confident votes will be accurately cast and counted in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The poll, released Monday, found that 28 percent of Americans were “very” confident and 42 percent were “somewhat” confident in the accuracy of U.S. elections ahead of the Nov. 6 vote.
At 70 percent, the current number of Americans confident in the accuracy of elections was similar to the historical average of 68 percent since 2004 and consistent with Gallup findings in 2004, 2006 and 2016.
The number of Americans who were very confident in the U.S. elections was down from 35 percent in 2016. That figure was at its lowest at 18 percent in 2008, when overall confidence was slightly down.
Republicans and Republican-leaning independents were more confident in accuracy of elections for the 2018 midterms at 78 percent, versus 66 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.
“Since 2004, Americans of the same political party that occupies the White House have been more confident in election accuracy than the opposing political party,” Gallup said.
Voter fraud was a major talking point for President Donald Trump as he established a voter fraud commission in May 2017 to research “improper” voter registration procedures, systemic vulnerabilities and voting irregularities including any scenario where a person ineligible to vote becomes an eligible voter in a particular jurisdiction, but dissolved it in January.
The poll also found that 33 percent of Americans were “very” concerned and 26 percent were “somewhat” concerned about foreign entities interfering in the election, as four investigations — one by the FBI, one in the House and two in the Senate — have been launched to determine whether Trump or his associates were involved with Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Along partisan lines, 72 percent of Democrats said they were concerned about foreign interference versus 41 percent of Republicans, as Trump has regularly referred to the investigations as a “witch hunt.”
“Despite claims of election fraud, both real and supposed, Americans largely have maintained confidence in the process over the past several national elections — though, as is the case with many measures Gallup has tracked, partisanship influences Americans’ confidence in the process,” Gallup said.
The data from the poll was collected based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 15-Oct. 28 with a random sample of 1,011 adults, aged 18 and older in all 50 states and Washington D.C. It was conducted using a 4 percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level.
