CNN poll: Most Americans think democracy is under attack in the United States

Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to say democracy is under attack, and this view is most prevalent among those who support former President Donald Trump. In total, 75% of Republicans say democracy is under attack, compared to 46% of Democrats. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, those who say Trump should be the party leader are much more likely to see democracy as threatened: 79% in this group versus 51% of those who say Trump should not be. the party leader.

When it comes to future elections, 51% of all Americans say it is at least fairly likely that an election in the next few years will be overturned by elected officials because their party has lost, while 49% say it is is unlikely.

Opinions on this perspective are more closely tied to perceptions of the threat to American democracy than to partisanship. Those who say democracy in America is under attack are the most likely to believe that an election is likely to be called off for partisan reasons (58%), while most of those who do not see democracy as under attack say it is unlikely (58%). Among Republicans, 57% say a canceled election is very or somewhat likely, while 48% of Independents and 49% of Democrats agree.

Democrats and Independents, however, lower confidence that the US election reflects the will of the people. A slim majority overall, 52%, now say they don’t have that confidence, compared to 40% who thought that way in January. Among Democrats, confidence has risen from 90% in January to 69% today, and among independents, it has risen from 54% to 46% during this period, while Republicans’ confidence has held steady roughly and now stands at 24%.

The change comes after a series of high-profile changes to state-level voting rules and regulations. Republican officials in some states have tightened voting rules, while some Democratic-controlled states have taken steps to make permanent the looser rules implemented to combat the coronavirus pandemic. According to the poll, less than half consider the movements on either side to be pure.

Majorities believe that the parties in control are making these changes to their advantage. About 6 in 10 (58%) say changes to election laws in Republican-controlled states were made to help the ruling party rather than make elections fairer, while 53% say the same thing about these changes in countries controlled by democrats. States. Combining the two results, around a quarter in total say that both sides are acting in their own best interests (25%), and only 12% say that both sides are acting to make the elections fairer. About a third each say that one party aims to make elections fairer while the other strives to stay in control (33% say Democrats make elections fairer and Republicans act to help their party, 29% say Republicans make elections fairer while Democrats try to hang on to control).

Democrats and Republicans in the poll are opposed to whether the biggest problem with the voting rules in U.S. elections is that they make voting too difficult or not strict enough to prevent illegal votes. Among Republicans, 83% say the problem is that the rules are not strict enough while 66% of Democrats say it is too hard to vote.

The new CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from August 3 to September 7 among a random national sample of 2,119 adults initially contacted by mail. Interviews were conducted online or over the phone with a live interviewer. The results of the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.