New poll finds strong bipartisan support for congressional action to address election subversion

Eighty-four percent of voters nationwide would support a new federal law to ensure every eligible citizen’s right to have their ballot counted and included in the totals of votes, and 85% of voters would support a law to ensure that officials cannot influence election procedures to benefit a particular candidate or political party, according to a new poll commissioned by Secure Democracy and Protect Democracy.

The poll, conducted by Republican pollster Chris Perkins of Ragnar Research Partners, also found strong bipartisan support for increasing election infrastructure funding, as well as federal policies that would: create uniform policies related to the secure storage of ballots; protect election officials from intimidation; and allow the U.S. Department of Justice to send observers to prevent interference with the counting of votes.

Among the key findings, there is broad, bipartisan support for:

    Funding our election infrastructure: 81% of voters would support a proposal that provides election infrastructure funding to local officials and states to be used for polling places, voting machines, and enhanced cybersecurity. Allowing equal access to monitor ballot handling: 80% of voters support allowing a person from each political campaign to watch the movement of any ballot boxes. Protecting the security and privacy of ballots and election documents: 89% of voters would support federal legislation to require states to preserve and secure all documents associated with federal elections; 80% would support legislation to set uniform national standards for the storage and preservation of ballots. Stopping attempts to overturn election results: 85% of voters believe the federal government should pass laws to ensure that officials cannot influence election procedures to benefit a particular candidate or political party; 83% believe that the federal government should pass laws to ensure that partisan officials cannot influence election outcomes.

The poll also clearly showed that voters are concerned about the increased threats to election officials and workers:

    79% of voters support allowing election officials to request that a court step in to protect them from intimidation. 78% of voters support issuing guidelines to election administrators on how to respond to intimidation or interference with the voting and ballot-counting processes. 78% of voters are concerned about the increase in threats of violence and intimidation facing election workers. 71% of voters are concerned about the challenge of recruiting enough election workers due to concerns over threats of violence and intimidation.

“There is clear bipartisan support for laws that protect election officials and the election results from partisan interference and intimidation,” said Chris Perkins of Ragnar Research Partners. “Americans across the political spectrum support legislation that ensures the results of a free and fair election are upheld and improves the security of our election systems.”

“Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike are clear that they value integrity and accountability when it comes to protecting our voting systems,” said Sarah Walker, executive director of Secure Democracy. “Congress must listen to the American people and take action to prevent further partisan interference in our elections and protect our election officials so that every American can exercise their freedom to vote and have confidence that their vote will count.”

“Strengthening elections and preventing election subversion are not partisan issues or controversial proposals,” said Jessica Marsden, Counsel at Protect Democracy. “Voters want Congress to put their voices first and ensure their ballots are counted fairly and transparently, regardless of which party is in power.”

Commissioned by Secure Democracy and Protect Democracy, the Ragnar Research Partners poll of 2,000 likely voters across the United States was conducted July 6, 2021 through July 13, 2021 via live callers to landlines and cellphones and has a margin of error of +2%.

The full memo from Ragnar Research Partners can be found here.