One set of poll results released this week found that 71% of voters in the U.S. think the future of the country is at stake in the midterms and another found that the same percentage think democracy is currently under threat.
The first, from Associated Press-NORC Center of Public Affairs Research, was a poll of 961 registered voters conducted from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10. The second was a poll of 792 registered voters nationwide from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12 by The New York Times/Siena College.
According to the AP, most voters who prefer that Republicans win majorities in Congress and voters who want to see Democrats remain in control agree that the future is at stake in the midterms.
The New York Times’ poll, included 46% of voters who said they would vote for a Republican Congressional candidate and 46% who said they would vote for a Democrat, as well as 31% identified Democrats, 29% identified Republicans and 71% voters who identified as white.
Overall, 62% said they think the country is not on the right track, compared to 24% who think it is. Most (51%) said they are almost certainly going to vote in the midterms.
“While about two-thirds of voters say they are pessimistic about politics, overwhelming majorities across party lines – about eight in 10 – say casting their ballot this year is extremely or very important,” said the AP.
A significant majority (69%) of voters surveyed by The New York Times said they would trust the midterm election results, compared to 28% who said they would not. Another significant majority (63%) trusts that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election and 55% said they would not be comfortable voting for an election denier.
More voters (48%) are concerned that people eligible to vote won’t have a chance to, compared to 46% who are concerned about illegal voting.
A vast majority (71%) believe democracy is threatened, compared to 21%.
However, views on what these threats are vary.
Out of all threats to democracy listed by The New York Times, “the mainstream media” was considered by a higher percentage of voters (59%) than any other to be a major threat. Fox News was the most commonly consulted form of news by most respondents (17%), followed by CBS, NBC and ABC with a combined 14%; social media at 14%; CNN at 9%; local TV at 8% and national outlets such as The Times and The Washington Post at 6%.
Other “major threats” included former President Donald Trump at 45% and Biden at 38%. Around 27% to 33% of voters said they believed each of the following categories were major threats to democracy: Republicans, Democrats, the federal government, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Electoral College and voting by mail.
Mail in voting has become more popular in recent years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. In Michigan, 150,000 voters have already cast absentee ballots, said the AP, and a total of 1.6 million people have already requested absentee ballots so far, which was the total amount in 2018.
More voters (33%) consider Democrats to be a major threat than Republicans (28%) and only 20% said electronic voting machines are a major threat, according to The New York Times poll.
Furthermore, the AP results show that voters’ view about the country and people’s rights has become more negative since the last midterms in 2018. Now, 70% compared to 58% in October 2018.
While “Republicans have become enormously dissatisfied with a Democrat in the White House,” Democrats have also remained “sour” though slightly more optimistic than when Trump was in office, the AP said.
Top issues for voters in the midterms, per The Times poll, are: the economy (26%), inflation (19%) the state of democracy (7%), immigration (5%) and abortion (4%).
“More voters say they trust the Republican Party to handle the economy (39% vs. 29%), as well as crime (38% vs. 23%). Republicans also have a slight advantage on immigration (38% vs. 33%),” said the AP. “The Democratic Party is seen as better able to handle abortion policy (45% vs.
22%), health care (42% vs. 25%) and voting laws (39% vs. 29%).”
That poll also showed majorities of voters, especially Democrats, think the outcome of the midterms will have a significant impact on abortion policy and voters across party lines think the outcome will have a lot of impact on the economy.
Results from The New York Times showed that Biden’s approval rating was 37%, lower than Trump’s 42% favorability rating. Trump was slightly favored to win the 2024 presidential election against Biden. Neither has confirmed their candidacy.
Additionally, most poll respondents (56%) said they did not know enough about the pro-Trump conspiracy theory Qanon to say whether they believed in it.
Many voters polled (68%) said the “government mainly works to benefit powerful elites,” and 57% think that “presidents should follow existing rules, even if that prevents them from doing what they think is best.”
Although Americans are concerned about the state of democracy and the future of the country and 50% said we appear to be too politically divided to solve our problems, 81% believe we can fix our democracy within our laws and institutions.
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