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MANY US voters are worried about political violence and attempts to overturn next week’s US presidential elections, a new poll found.
The election will be held on the first Tuesday in November (November 6 Australian time).
The poll was conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research and found that about 40 percent of respondents were concerned about potential violence.
US media outlets report that a similar level of poll respondents were concerned about legal challenges to election outcomes; roughly one-third say they are “very” worried about local or state officials trying to block the certification of results.
TRUMP DOUBTS
US media outlets who ran the poll report that some voters were sceptical about former US President Donald Trump accepting the results if he loses the election; only about a third expect Trump to accept the outcome and concede if he is defeated.
Nearly 90 percent of voters believe the losing candidate in a presidential election should concede once all votes are counted and legal disputes resolved, including around 80 percent of Republicans.
Trump has persisted in spreading debunked claims that fraud cost him the 2020 election; his allies and the Republican party have filed lawsuits nationwide to lay the groundwork for potential post-election legal battles if he is defeated.
ABOUT HARRIS
Those concerns do not extend to Harris, the current US Vice President. Nearly 80 percent of respondents, including most Republicans, believe she will accept the results.
Voters remain divided over the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and who bears responsibility. Democrats and independents are significantly more likely than Republicans to blame Trump.
Most Republicans who participated in the poll said they believe US President Joe Biden’s presidency is illegitimate while nearly all Democrats and around 70 percent of independents affirm that Biden was legitimately elected.
The poll of 1072 adults was conducted from October 11-14. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
