The American Democracy Minute Radio Report and Podcast for November 4, 2022
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
A quote attributed to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels says, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Polling just released by the Pew Research Center confirms just before the 2022 midterm election that an alarming number of voters have low confidence in our election system.
In October 2018, Pew polling showed that 87% of voters supporting GOP congressional candidates thought the upcoming 2018 midterm election would be conducted “Very well” or “Somewhat well.” In 2020, that number dropped to 50% of GOP voters. Now, two years after “The Big Lie” and the January 6th committee revelations, that number has improved just 6 points to 56%.
When asked in 2020 whether their in-person votes would be counted accurately, 92% of GOP voters said they were “Very” or “Somewhat” confident. In 2022, that number dropped to 79%, with “Very” confident dropping from 48% to just 26%.
But that confidence drops even further with the counting of absentee and mail-in ballots, and it hasn’t changed much from 2020 to 2022. Just 37% GOP-supporting voters are “Very” or “Somewhat” confident that mail ballots will be counted accurately in 2022, compared to 36% in 2020.
We have links to the poll, and credible sources showing the American election system is safe, accurate and secure at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.