Republicans remain skeptical of absentee and mail voting, and they are now less confident that votes cast in person will be counted accurately

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October 28, 2022

Two Years After Election Turmoil, GOP Voters Remain Skeptical on Elections, Vote Counts

Republicans remain skeptical of absentee and mail voting, and they are now less confident that votes cast in person will be counted accurately

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Republicans remain skeptical of absentee and mail voting, and they are now less confident that votes cast in person will be counted accurately

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Two Years After Election Turmoil, GOP Voters Remain Skeptical on Elections, Vote Counts
Partisan gap in views of election administration in the U.S. wider than in 2020, much wider than in 2018
Republican voters who have ‘warm’ feelings toward Donald Trump have less confidence in midterm election administration, accurate vote counts than do GOP voters with ‘neutral’ or ‘cold’ feelings
Democratic voters far more likely than Republicans to say it is ‘very important’ for losing congressional candidates to concede
With concerns over COVID-19 easing, more voters say they will vote in person at polling places
Higher confidence in election administration across the U.S. this year than in 2020, but lower than in 2018
GOP voters remain far less confident than Democratic voters that U.S. elections will be administered well
Conservative GOP supporters least likely to say U.S. elections will be administered well this year
Only modest differences by age, race and ethnicity in views of how elections will be administered
White Democratic voters have more confidence in local election administration than Black and Hispanic Democratic voters
High level of confidence in poll workers; Democratic voters express more confidence than GOP voters
GOP confidence in poll workers, state election officials down from 2018
GOP voters in Democratic-controlled states least confident in their state election officials
Partisan gap in confidence in in-person ballot counts emerges, in contrast to 2020
In-person voters – especially among GOP supporters – are less confident than absentee voters that mail and absentee ballots will be counted as voters intend
Voters overwhelmingly say election rules in their own state are fair
Most voters say it is neither ‘too easy’ nor ‘too hard’ to register and vote in their state
Large shares living in states controlled by the other party say state election rules unfairly favor that side
Voters in states where their party’s presidential candidate lost in 2020 now more likely than in 2018 to say state rules unfairly favor the opposing party; rise most pronounced among GOP voters in competitive states where Biden won
Nearly all voters say voting is important; smaller majority say it’s exciting
Adults who are not registered to vote less likely to view voting as important, convenient, straightforward or exciting
Wide age gap over whether voting is convenient, exciting
Expectations about ease of voting on par with 2018
Black, Hispanic voters less likely than White voters to say voting will be easy
Most voters plan to cast their ballots in person this year
Preference for in-person voting grows compared with 2020 election
Voters’ plans for returning absentee ballots
American Trends Panel recruitment surveys
Invitation and reminder dates
Weighting dimensions
Unweighted sample sizes
Response rates

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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

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