A new poll shows that a surprising percentage of former poll workers believe that poll workers might try to interfere in the upcoming general election.
A recent YouGov poll found that 36 percent of former poll workers said that they thought it was very or somewhat likely that poll workers will attempt to tamper with the election in November.
The poll also revealed that overall, 55 percent of Republican respondents said they thought it was likely that poll workers will attempt to tamper with the election, compared with 28 percent of Democrats.
Overall, 39 percent of adult U.S. citizens said they believed poll workers would attempt to tamper with the election.
Voters make selections at their voting booths inside an early voting site on October 17 in Hendersonville, North Carolina. New polling reveals how much trust there is in poll workers ahead of the 2024 election.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
However, only 27 percent of respondents said they believed a poll worker would successfully tamper with the election.
The poll surveyed a sample of 1,127 U.S. citizens, of which 9 percent said they formerly worked as poll workers. The survey, which was taken between September 5 and 8, has a margin of error of +/-3.8 percent, although the error margin is larger among former poll workers surveyed because of the small sample size.
A similar poll in 2022 by YouGov found that a similar portion of Americans, 36 percent, believed poll workers would try to tamper with the midterm elections that year. However, that poll did not show the specific responses to the question from former poll workers.
The results reflect a trend in recent years of growing distrust toward election officials and the electoral process, particularly among Republicans. The mistrust has been fueled by former President Donald Trump‘s unfounded claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
Trump and his allies have propagated conspiracy theories about the election being stolen, contributing to a rise in threats against election workers.
A survey by the left-leaning non-profit Brennan Center in May this year found that 38 percent of local election officials had experienced threats, harassment or abuse.
Forty percent of election administrators responding to the survey said they had added security measures to election offices and polling stations, including installing bulletproof glass and panic buttons.
Poll workers carry out a range of duties during early voting and on Election Day, including assisting voters with the voting process and ensuring the smooth operation of the polling site.
The latest YouGov poll also showed that people trust poll workers in their local communities slightly more than in the country at large.
Eighty-two percent of respondents said they trust poll workers in their community a great deal, a moderate amount or a little, compared with 79 percent saying the same about poll workers across the U.S.
