Americans' confidence in elections integrity plummets

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: ABC News
7 Jan 2022 19:45

A recent poll showed that only 20% of the American public say they are very confident about the integrity of the country's elections.

Voters cast out primary ballots at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, June 23, 2020 (Source: AP Photo)

A poll conducted by ABC and Ipsos shows that the US public's belief in the integrity of the electoral system continues to be shaken by the events of the January 6 capitol riots, with only 20% of the public saying they are "very confident" in the system.

It went down from 37% in a poll conducted by ABC News jointly with The Washington Post in the days after the riot last year.

The network said the lack of strong confidence in the state's ability to conduct fair elections goes beyond party affiliation. Among Democrats, whose party leaders have struggled to protect what they believe is deteriorating voting rights across the country, "30% say they are very confident in the U.S. election systems overall."

As for independents, only 1 in 5 consider themselves "very confident" in US elections.

Even fewer Republicans (13%) are very confident, with a large majority (59%) having little confidence in the system, responding that they are either “not so confident” or “not confident at all,” which come as a result of the result of growing skepticism a year later of the horrific attack on the US Capitol.

Poll: Most Americans say events similar to Jan. 6 likely to happen

Another poll made by Axios-Momentive poll revealed that 57% of Americans expect the recurrence of deadly incidents such as the January 6 Capitol riots in the upcoming few years.

The poll also showed that only about 37% of US citizens have lost faith in US democracy.

Biden "hasn't done enough"

In regard to the US presidency, the Axios-Momentive showed that fewer than 6 in 10 Americans say US President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election. It is noteworthy that this number hasn't changed since last year's poll conducted before the January 6 riots.

Interpreting the results, Laura Wronski, senior manager for research science at Momentive, expressed that either Biden hasn't done enough or he never had a chance.

"The partisan division is still the story," she highlighted.

Currently, 55% of Americans accept that Biden had legitimately won the presidential race against Trump, compared to 58% back on January 4-5, 2021, the Momentive poll showed.