It turns out "a majority of U.S. voters think it is likely that cheating affected the outcomes of some races" in the 2022 midterm elections, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey. 60% of Likely Voters want to ensure no cheating in elections. 37% think it is "Very Likely" cheating affected outcomes. Furthermore, over 50 percent of Republicans believe "state and federal officials are ignoring evidence of widespread election fraud." 21% of the Likely Voters polled think it is not at all likely officials ignored the evidence.
The survey of 915 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on April 17-19 by Rasmussen Reports, an American polling company founded in 2003. April's polling shows "a majority of voters suspect recent elections have been affected by cheating and believe officials are ignoring the problem." The organization is one of the few that continues to poll Americans about their views on election integrity.
Rasmussen Reports asked four questions in its survey. The Margin of Sampling Error was +/-3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence, as seen on the questions page below:
Democrat and Liberal Voters Want Elections to be More Convenient
The first two questions address making voting convenient, with Question 2 focusing on mail-in voting, which became vastly more prevalent because of the pandemic. Before the pandemic, very few states participated in mass mail-in ballots and expanded early voting. Mass mail-in ballots are sent to all voters, whether requested or not.
Mass mail-in voting makes elections much more vulnerable to fraud for various reasons. Pre-pandemic mail-in voting was more likely to be by request (absentee ballots) or for overseas military voters. The parameters for by-request mail-in ballots are more stringent than for mass mail-in ballots. Liberal Democrats are much more likely to support election administration processes that make voting more accessible. Mass mail-in voting and limited ID requirements are popular with Liberal voters because they believe stringent election administration processes target minorities and, therefore, suppress voters.
The Rasmussen Reports National Survey confirms Democrats are much more likely to prioritize the ease of voting and to deny that it is easier to cheat with mail-in voting. Liberals and Democrats are also much less likely to want to "make sure there is no cheating in elections." The differences are stark between the ideological polar opposites (Conservative voters and Liberal voters) when it comes to making voting more convenient.
Question one in the survey addresses ease of voting and the prioritization of election integrity or ensuring there is "no cheating in elections." Only 17% of Conservative voters in this survey believe voting should be easier. 65% of Liberal voters want to make voting easy—almost a 50-point spread. 37% of Independents thought we should make it easier to vote. Of the Likely Voters surveyed, 39% said making it easier to vote is a priority.
More concerning is that, according to this survey, Liberal voters seem to care little about cheating in elections. Only 34% of Liberal voters answered they want to ensure there is no cheating in elections. 82% of Conservatives say it is important to ensure elections are free of fraud. 60% of Likely Voters (light green) agree that it is important to target election fraud.
53% of Likely Voters believe mail-in voting makes cheating easier, with only 13% believing it is harder. 30% of Likely Voters surveyed say it doesn't make much difference. Only 4% are not sure, according to the April survey. Among the Liberal voters surveyed, 43% believe it is easier to cheat with mail-in ballots. Independents (43%) and moderates (41%) tracked each other concerning their views on the ease of cheating with regard to mail-in voting.
Conservatives weighed in at 69% who believe mail-in voting makes cheating easier. The numbers are relatively consistent across the board for those who think mail-in ballots make it harder to cheat—almost all in the teens. Harder to cheat?; Democrats 13%, Republicans 12%, Conservatives 14%, and Liberals 12%.
Also notable? A whopping 68% of people in the 18-39 age group answered it is easier to cheat with mail-in voting, a pretty considerable deviation (20-30 points) from the rest of their answers across the board.
Does Cheating Affect Outcomes of Some Races?
Of the Likely Voters surveyed, 37% believe cheating very likely affected the outcomes of some races in the 2022 midterms. 23% of Likely Voters said it was somewhat likely. Of Likely Voters surveyed, 15% answered not very likely, and 20% said it was not at all likely that cheating affected outcomes. Conservatives were most likely to believe cheating was an issue, with 59% of those answering very likely. Republicans were not far behind Conservatives, with 55% of those responding very likely. Liberals and Democrats said cheating very likely affected the outcomes of some races in the 2022 midterms at 19% and 24%, respectively.
Younger voters (6%), ages 18-39, tracked with Conservatives (6%) by answering it was not at all likely that cheating affected outcomes in some of the midterm races.
Many Republicans Believe Officials Are Ignoring Evidence Of Widespread Election Fraud*
"Over 50 percent of Republicans believe it is very likely "state and federal officials are ignoring evidence of widespread election fraud," according to the survey. A drill-down into the Republican party landscape shows 55 percent of Republicans believe fraud is very likely being ignored, and 60 percent of Conservatives believe officials are very likely pushing fraud under the rug. Democrats and Liberals are much less likely to believe officials are ignoring fraud. Only 22% of Democrats answered it is very likely, and only 12% of Liberals say officials are very likely ignoring evidence of widespread fraud.
Only 3% of the 18-39 age group answered it is not at all likely state and federal officials are ignoring evidence of widespread election fraud, followed by 5% for Conservatives, 8% for Republicans, and 9% for Blacks.
As Mark Mitchel for Rasmussen Reports states in the video below, "Ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. Voters' election fraud concerns are the highest ever" since Rasmussen Reports began polling Americans.
*UncoverDC made an error in reporting about those who were unsure about whether we should "make sure there is no cheating in elections." Most voters agree we should make sure there is no cheating. It has been corrected and we apologize for the error.
