Americans Remain Divided Over the Integrity of This Historic Presidential Election

With the presidential election set to take place on Tuesday, concerns over election integrity have intensified and will likely play a key role in the inevitable fallout that will take place regardless of who wins the race.

Polling has shown mixed views on the integrity of the upcoming elections. Attitudes toward the issue are largely divided on partisan lines. Concerns over the validity of the election have prompted various legal actions to ensure a fair electoral process.

Recent polling data reveals a substantial partisan divide in how Americans perceive election integrity. A Gallup poll conducted in September showed that while 84 percent of Democrats express confidence in the fairness of the vote count, only about 28 percent of Republicans agree. This 56-percentage point gap is the largest recorded by Gallup in its history.

An AP-NORC poll from October showed that 76 percent of Democrats are confident in the upcoming vote count, compared to only 25 percent of Republicans.

Leftist media outlets predictably attribute the lack of trust in election integrity among Republicans to the spread of misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms. They have criticized various platforms for failing to address the spread of conspiracy theories that influence trust in the system.

The Department of Homeland Security, in a memo reported on by US outlets including the BBC’s partner CBS, said on Monday that election conspiracy theories could spark action by domestic extremists.

And observers expect the wave of misinformation to continue well beyond election day. Polls suggest the election will be among the closest in modern US history. It may take days to count all the votes and determine the winner.

Luis Lozada of Democracy Works says the election is being conducted in an “ecosystem of distrust”.

But despite the doubts being sown, he says, “accurate information is getting out there”.

“Election officials work very hard to ensure that elections are run properly, as they were in 2020,” Mr Lozada said. “That’s not going to stop folks from taking anecdotes, and trying to punch holes.”

Foreign influence is also an issue. Several reports indicate that foreign actors, especially the Russian government, have ramped up disinformation campaigns to undermine confidence in U.S. elections. This includes the dissemination of fake videos and narratives intended to sow discord among the American electorate.

Many of the concerns among Republican voters stem from the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, with some believing the race was stolen via widespread voter fraud. The election featured several discrepancies and odd developments occurring in states like Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and others.

In response, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has implemented various efforts to ensure fairness in the upcoming election. The GOP has filed over 130 election integrity lawsuits during this election season, according to Karoline Leavitt, National Press Secretary for the Trump campaign.

They have been focused on four primary drivers for litigation: 1) only American citizens can vote; 2) voter ID should be required everywhere; 3) states should clean up their voter rolls; 4) states with mail-in balloting should have basic protections in place.

In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court, despite having a left-leaning majority, ruled that misdated mail-in ballots cannot be counted. The RNC and the North Carolina GOP filed a lawsuit against the state’s Board of Elections, challenging its policy on absentee ballots. In a press release, they argued that the policy “disregards election laws requiring absentee ballot security envelopes to be sealed in order for the ballot to count.”

Skepticism related to the election has caused concerns about potential violence after the outcome of the election is decided.

A new Scripps/Ipsos poll shows that the majority of Americans are concerned about political violence after the election.

Most Americans expect violence following Election Day but remain confident their vote will be counted accurately and are willing to accept the results of the presidential race, a new Scripps News/Ipsos poll found.

The survey of 1,000 Americans finds bipartisan concerns over unrest after Nov. 5. Overall, 62% of respondents – including 70% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans – say violence related to the election is “somewhat“ or “very likely.”

And among respondents in the key battleground state of Wisconsin, which was also measured as part of the survey, concerns over violence are higher, at 72%.

And many, 51%, say they would support using the U.S. military to prevent potential threats around Election Day.

But a large majority, 77 percent, also says they are willing to accept the election results even if their preferred candidate loses.

The latest RealClear Polling average has former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris tied as of this writing. It shows Trump barely leading Harris in top battleground states by only 0.7 percent. If these numbers hold, then this will be a close race, which will likely result in the results being contested regardless of who is declared the winner.