Nearly two-thirds of voters fear Tuesday’s midterm election results could be tampered with, with Republicans and Democrats expressing similar levels of concern. The findings come as President Trump threatens to claim fraud in Alaska’s Senate race, according to an exclusive Our News Outlet/Ipsos poll.
The Our News Outlet/Ipsos survey questioned 1,021 US adults, including 810 registered voters, from October 30 through November 1. The margin of error for registered voters is ±3.5 percentage points.
Among registered voters, 63 percent said they were concerned that the results could be manipulated in a way that compromises their accuracy, the poll found.
One-quarter of voters, or 25 percent, described themselves as “very concerned” about the election’s integrity, while 36 percent said they were not concerned.
The concern spans party affiliations. Sixty-eight percent of Democratic voters and 66 percent of Republicans said they were worried, compared with 57 percent of independents.
Twenty-nine percent of Democrats said they were “very concerned,” compared with 24 percent of Republicans and 21 percent of independents.
Independents were the least worried overall: 42 percent said they were not concerned, compared with 33 percent of Republicans and 32 percent of Democrats. Across all registered voters, 12 percent said they were “not concerned at all.”
According to the latest exclusive Our News Outlet/Ipsos survey, 63 percent of registered voters are concerned that the midterm election results could be tampered with in a way that affects their accuracy
But election integrity is not the issue commanding most voters’ attention.
When asked which issues mattered most in deciding their vote, 45 percent cited the economy and cost of living. Corruption ranked second at 16 percent, followed by democratic values and norms at 15 percent.
Voters are also anticipating a possible change in political power.
Forty-eight percent expect Democrats to gain seats in the House, compared with 24 percent who foresee Republican gains. In the Senate, 43 percent predict Democratic gains and 26 percent expect Republicans to add seats, while 30 percent remain unsure.
Trump’s focus on Alaska’s Senate race has heightened concerns about the integrity of the contest.
The race between Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan and former Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola is viewed as a toss-up and could help determine control of the Senate.
A third candidate, Daniel J Sullivan Jr, a retired teacher, is also on the ballot in Alaska this year. The state’s Supreme Court allowed him to remain in the race despite legal challenges.
A late-October New York Times report described efforts by Peltola campaign staffers and Democratic operatives to recruit people with the same name as the incumbent senator, potentially siphoning votes from the Republican.
Staffers for Mary Peltola, the Democratic Senate candidate in Alaska, reportedly sought to recruit candidates sharing Senator Dan Sullivan’s name in an effort to draw votes away from the Republican
Trump, pictured above with Senator Dan Sullivan, has said Democratic candidate Mary Peltola should face punishment
Trump has repeatedly denounced the tactic as blatant fraud, calling it “voter fraud at the highest level” and a “scam” during a recent rally.
He has demanded that Peltola be removed from the race and prosecuted alongside the non-senator Sullivan.
In his most sweeping claim, the president suggested the election might need to be “redone” if the incumbent loses by a narrow margin.
Given the strategy, the attention it has attracted and the race’s importance, one Republican election lawyer said the contest is more likely than any other midterm race to trigger legal challenges.
At Trump’s direction, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in late October seeking to block or delay certification of Alaska’s Senate results if incumbent Sullivan lost and the other Sullivan’s votes could have changed the outcome.
The lawsuit argued that the candidates’ similar names could threaten election integrity. A federal judge dismissed the case on Sunday, ruling that there was no workable way to remedy the situation without violating ballot-secrecy requirements.
The DOJ has said it will appeal the decision.
