Many Republicans have lost trust in poll workers, drastically shifting from the consensus in 2022, according to a new poll conducted by YouGov.
In the survey taken from September 5 through 8, YouGov found that the majority of Republicans were concerned that poll workers would tamper with the election and that their trust in election officials is low.
While 60 percent of Americans reported that they trusted people officiating the election a great deal or moderately nationally to carry out a free and fair election, 39 percent also responded that they believed it was at least somewhat likely that poll workers would attempt to tamper with the election, although the majority did not agree they would be successful.
When asked how much they trust poll workers to administer a free and fair election, 10 percent of Republicans said they trusted them a great deal, and 37 percent said a moderate amount, while 43 percent of Democrats said they trusted them a great deal, and 37 percent said moderate.
Respondents seemed to be more inclined to trust poll workers in their local communities, rather than nationally.
Regarding overall trust in poll workers, only 25 percent of respondents said they believed "a great deal" that poll workers nationally would carry out fair and free elections, and 33 percent agreed they would do so in their local communities.
Similarly, when asked how likely it is that poll workers would tamper with the election, 55 percent of Republicans said it was very or somewhat likely in comparison to 28 percent of Democrats and 36 percent of former poll workers.
Newsweek has contacted the United States Electoral Commission for comment.
Furthermore, one quarter of respondents said that if a poll worker attempted to tamper with the election, they believed they would be successful.
The majority of those who believed these hypothetical poll workers trying to tamper with the election successfully were Republican respondents, at 39 percent in comparison to 15 percent of Democrats.
Distrust from Republican respondents regarding potential tampering with the election increased by 45 percent from a similar survey conducted by YouGov in late October 2022.
Similarly, in 2022, Republicans were also more likely than Democrats to believe that poll workers would try to tamper with the election and be successful in doing so.
Republicans' trust in poll workers both nationally and in their respective communities has also decreased since 2022, as 31 percent trusted local poll workers and 11 percent trusted poll workers nationally.
The poll conducted by YouGov in early September was conducted online and surveyed 1,127 U.S. adults, selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to represent U.S. citizens.
The margin of error for the poll for the overall sample was 4 percent.
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