Voters Strongly Support Election Integrity Reforms

Confidence in U.S. elections has taken a hit over the past several years in the era of “Zuckbucks,” “Bidenbucks,” foreign influence and homegrown shenanigans. 

A poll conducted earlier this year by RMG Research found less than half (45%) of the 1,000 registered voters surveyed said they were very confident that the votes were accurately counted and the proper winners were declared in the past few election cycles.  

“In a nation where the government derives its only just authority from the consent of the governed, that’s a crisis,” Scott Rasmussen, renowned pollster and founder and president of RMG Research, said on the latest episode of “The Federalist Radio Hour” podcast. 

It’s not a one-sided issue, either, Rasmussen added. The poll found an equal percentage of Republicans and Democrats (46%) said they were very confident in the nation’s elections.   

“If you go back to 2020, of course, Republicans think the election was stolen. If you go back to 2016, Democrats think the election was stolen,” the pollster said. “There is a compete lack of confidence in our electoral system.”

The poll, conducted for the FAIR Elections Fund, shows another 31 percent of respondents are “somewhat confident,” while a combined 21 percent were not very confident or not at all confident. 

5 Popular Election Integrity Reforms

Perhaps not surprisingly, the poll found the vast majority of voters support basic — and popular — election integrity reforms. Requiring states to regularly clean voter rolls of ineligible registrants is the most popular of the reforms, according to the poll, with 91 percent of respondents in favor. The idea that the number of ballots submitted should match the number of votes reported has the backing of 88 percent of voters. 

About as many respondents (87%) favor requiring photo ID proving citizenship to vote in elections. Poll after poll shows support for the election integrity measure. A Pew Research Center poll from February 2024 shows 81 percent of U.S. adults back voter ID.

The RMG survey found 86 percent of respondents support requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and to cast a ballot, a proposal at the core of the Democrat-doomed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act). And 85 percent support laws requiring all mail-in ballots to be received by Election Day. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 19 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C., “accept and count a mailed ballot received after Election Day but postmarked on or before (sometimes only before) Election Day.” 

“People believe that all ballots should be submitted by Election Day. Why is that important? Well, when your team loses the Super Bowl you don’t get to play an extra quarter to try and score another touchdown,” Rasmussen said. 

In the months leading up to November’s election, President Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee filed multiple lawsuits challenging post-Election Day ballot receipts. In battleground Nevada, one of several states that offers universal mail balloting, a postmarked ballot may be received up to four days after an election. Just days before the presidential election, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling allowing mail-in ballots without postmarks to be received and counted up to three after Election Day. 

“Congress has established a uniform, national day to elect members of Congress and to appoint presidential electors,” the Trump campaign and the RNC wrote in the lawsuit. “Nevada effectively extends Nevada’s federal election past the Election Day established by Congress.”

‘Something They Can Believe In’ 

The five popular election-integrity reforms in the RMG poll are at the heart of the US Citizens Elections Bill of Rights, led by election law attorney and election integrity advocate Cleta Mitchell, chairwoman of the Election Integrity Network.  

“We, the Citizen Voters of the United States do hereby proclaim this Elections Bill of Rights to secure the integrity of America’s elections, which are the bedrock of America’s constitutional republic …,” the preamble declares. The call to action is aimed at protecting U.S. elections “from fraud, manipulation, and error” and to keep them “free from foreign interference and influence, enabling the citizens of the United States of America to faithfully give to or withdraw our consent from those who seek to govern our nation, our states, and our local communities …” 

Among its principles, the Elections Bill of Rights calls for laws demanding that only U.S. citizens can participate in U.S. elections, voter ID requirements for all votes, and vigorous voter roll maintenance. The document also calls for replacing all vulnerable, insecure voting technology, conducting post-election audits, and stopping “Billionaire-Concocted Election Schemes.” The latter includes prohibitions against ranked choice voting and the left’s push to replace the Electoral College with the National Popular Vote, “and other artificial voting methods.”

Rasmussen said election integrity isn’t a partisan issue among voters. 

“This is a broad concern that we need to have confidence in our electoral processes,” the pollster said on The Federalist Radio Hour. “People want this country to work and they want this election process to be something they can believe in.”  

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.