President Donald Trump’s repeated attempts to convince the public that elections are rigged and voter fraud is rampant – both false claims – have had an impact, a new poll shows.
The findings underscore the damage that Trump and his allies have done to United States democracy through their relentless campaign to falsely cast doubt on election outcomes and promote baseless fears about fraud and noncitizen voting — aimed at laying the groundwork for restrictive voting measures.
Nearly half of respondents to a Reuters/Ipsos poll — 46% — said they agreed with the statement that there are large numbers of fraudulent ballots cast by non-citizens in U.S. elections.
That included 82% of Republicans and 38% of independents, along with just 18% of Democrats.
And 53% of all respondents said they were worried about mail voting — including 83% of Republicans. Still, 64% of respondents think people should be allowed to vote by mail — something Trump is trying to restrict in multiple ways.
The poll also found that 63% of Republicans — compared to just 9% of Democrats and 21% of independents — believe the 2020 presidential election was rigged. That’s a false claim that Trump has spent more than half a decade reiterating.
Multiple state investigations last year found infinitesimal levels of noncitizen voting.
Meanwhile, Trump and many of his allies this week took to social media to falsely claim that Virginia’s redistricting election Tuesday was “rigged.”
“A RIGGED ELECTION TOOK PLACE LAST NIGHT IN THE GREAT COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
But in good news for democracy, most Americans, 67%, do not want the National Guard at polling stations. Trump has flirted with the idea, telling the New York Times in January that he wished he deployed the National Guard to seize ballots during the 2020 election.
