by Dan McCaleb
According to a fresh poll, the immense majority of voters want to introduce rules and procedures to ensure the fairness of elections.
This applies to 86 percent. respondents who agree that election officials should have access to all necessary information to verify that the number of ballots cast corresponds to the number of voters, and 85 percent who believe that election officials should verify the accuracy of the information they receive before signing the confirmation of the result elections. Majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents support proper vote verification.
The poll, which polled 1,000 registered voters nationwide, comes from the nonprofits Follow the Law and Napolitan News Service and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1%. Follow the Law, according to his websiteis “a group of lawyers committed to ensuring that elections are free, fair and represent the true votes of all American citizens.” Napolitan News Service is operated pollster Scott Rasmussen.
“Our group at Follow the Law understands the critical need for voters to have confidence in the electoral process,” Melody Clarke, executive director of Follow the Law, said of the poll results. “The survey highlights that voters, regardless of political affiliation, gender, education or income, consider accuracy and transparency in the electoral process essential.”
When asked whether local officials should verify that the total number of votes cast matches the total number of ballots issued and the number of votes certified (a process known as reconciliation), 84 percent of those surveyed responded “yes,” 5 percent responded “no,” and 11 the percentage was not certain. When asked whether reconciliation at all delays the final certification of election results, 78 percent of respondents said it was still crucial. Fifteen percent said certifying the results quickly was their priority, and 8 percent were unsure.
An overwhelming 94 percent of respondents said it was “very important” (71 percent) or “somewhat important” (23 percent) for Democratic and Republican Party representatives to be present at every stage of vote counting and certification. , with just 3 percent saying it was “not very important” (2 percent) or “not important at all” (1 percent).
When it comes to requiring proof of citizenship before an individual can vote, 83 percent of respondents support the requirement. Strong majorities also support limiting early voting to the week before Election Day (64%) and requiring most people to vote in person (65%), except for the elderly, disabled and hospitalized.
Regarding election results, 75 percent of respondents said they were confident or somewhat confident that votes would be counted correctly in all states; 58 percent said it expected election results within 24 hours; and 87 percent say that if it takes longer to report total results, election officials should explain the reason for the delay.
“These findings show that voters have become more aware of the intricacies of the electoral process over the past few years. The more they know, the more they want to know. “These respondents were not left or right, they represented a broad, unbiased sample of American voters,” said pollster Scott Rasmussen, president of RMG Research. “Regardless of demographics, they expect process transparency and accuracy from officials overseeing our elections in a timely manner before final numbers are confirmed.”
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Dan McCaleb is editor-in-chief Central Square.
“Election Day” photo by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
