A new national poll finds declining trust in election administration as lawmakers debate stricter voting laws and the future of federal election rules.
Americans’ confidence that their elections will be run fairly has dropped to its lowest point in years, according to a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll.
Ahead of a consequential midterm contest in November, two-thirds of Americans say they are confident their state or local government will run a fair and accurate election, a drop of 10 percentage points from the month before the 2024 presidential election. The percentage who expressed confidence is at the lowest it’s been since Marist first asked this question in 2020.
The drop has been driven largely by Democrats and independents, whose confidence has dropped 16 and 11 percentage points respectively. Republicans, however, are 3 percentage points more confident in how elections will be run this November, within the poll’s margin of error.
The growing concern comes as President Donald Trump threatens to hold up legislation until Congress passes a sweeping overall of federal voting rules, despite many states already holding primaries and actively preparing for the general election.
Speaking to House Republicans on Monday, Trump called the SAVE America Act, which already passed the House along party lines last month, its singular legislative priority right now. Among the bill’s components, the most controversial and complicated to implement is a requirement that Americans present proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. The president claims it will prevent non-citizens from committing voter fraud – a very rare occurrence, according to experts – and that the legislation has overwhelming support from voters.
“It’ll guarantee the midterms,” Trump said. “If you don’t get it, big trouble.”
One third of Americans say voter fraud is the single biggest threat to keeping elections safe and accurate, according to the new poll. But the public’s anxieties about voting are more complicated and more divided than the president would suggest.
Another 26% cite misleading information as the biggest threat, while 24% say voter suppression. Foreign interference was named by just 8 percent, despite a recent renewed assertion from Trump, as part of his shifting justification for strikes on Ir
