The outcome of some elections this year will be affected by cheating, most voters said, according to a Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey released Monday.
More than half — 57% — of likely American voters held this view, including 30% who said it is very likely; 40% do not think election outcomes this year are likely to be affected by cheating, including 18% who say it is not at all likely.
The survey comes as Democrats kept their Senate majority after a win in Nevada, while control of the House of Representatives remains undecided.
Other results in the poll:
- Far more Republicans (46%) than Democrats (16%) or independents (27%) said it is very likely that the outcome of some elections this year will be affected by cheating.
- A full 56% of voters said it is more important to make sure there is no cheating in elections, while 41% think it is more important to make it easier for everybody to vote.
- Regarding mail-in voting, 52% said it makes it easier to cheat, while 14% think voting by mail makes it harder to cheat and 30% say mail-in-voting doesn’t make much difference.
- Among Republicans, 70% said mail-in voting makes it easier to cheat, while 41% of Democrats said the same, as well as 45% of independents.
- Just 35% said electronic voting machines make it easier to cheat, while 26% said the machines make it harder to do so and 30% believe they don’t make much difference.
- However, 49% of voters nationwide were concerned that difficulties with voting machines might prevent their vote from being counted accurately, including 26% who were very concerned. An equal 49% were not concerned that voting machine problems would prevent their vote from being counted, including 23% who were not at all concerned.
- Republicans, at 66%, were the most concerned that their vote might not be counted accurately because of voting machine problems, while only 39% of Democrats and 41% of independents were similarly concerned.
- As for electronic voting machines making it easier to cheat in elections, 44% of Republicans said so, while only 36% of independents and 26% of Democrats agree.
- While 65% of Democrats believe it is more important to make it easier for everybody to vote, only 21% of Republicans and 36% of unaffiliated voters agree. A robust 77% of Republicans and 61% of unaffiliated voters think it is more important to make sure there is no cheating, with 31% of Democrats agreeing.
- Significantly more men (42%) than women voters (29%) said electronic voting machines make it easier to cheat in elections.
- The survey of 1,000 likely voters was carried out on Nov. 8-9 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is plus/minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.