The overall level of confidence among Republican voters in all three, however, is lower than among Democratic voters. About three-quarters of Democrats say they are at least “somewhat” confident that votes will be counted accurately nationally, in their state or by their local election officials.

This year’s election marks the first presidential race since former President Donald Trump launched a campaign of lies about a stolen 2020 election — a narrative that undermined public confidence in election results among a broad spectrum of conservative voters, despite the absence of evidence of widespread fraud.

Election experts have warned that Trump could set the stage to contest the election again if he loses.

David Farrington, a 78-year-old conservative from Fort Worth, Texas, said he was wary of mail-in ballots and drop boxes, two common targets of voter fraud claims and election conspiracies trying to sow distrust in with regard to the election results.

“It’s not the vote count that worries me,” Farrington said. “I have every confidence in all the precincts and their ability to count the ballots that are there. But the ballots – we don’t know if they’re legitimate or not.”

Conversely, Ruth Edwards, a 28-year-old kindergarten teacher in Tampa, Florida, said she had “never seen any evidence that the election was rigged.”

“It’s just people who are upset about their candidate losing who are now claiming it’s rigged without any evidence,” said Edwards, a Democrat. “This is ridiculous.”

Overall, voters are more likely to believe that votes in the 2024 presidential election will be counted accurately by their local or state election officials rather than by the country as a whole, according to the poll. About 6 in 10 voters have “a lot” or “somewhat” confidence that votes in the 2024 presidential election will be counted accurately by their local or state election officials, while about half say that about votes counted nationally.

About a quarter of respondents in each case have “a moderate degree” of confidence. About 3 in 10 people say they have “some” or no confidence in the national count, while fewer say that about their state or local count.

Drew Inman, a 31-year-old Republican working in law enforcement in New Jersey, said he was skeptical about the accuracy of vote counts across the board, but particularly in counties outside his own.

“I definitely have more confidence in the local vote count than I do in the national vote count,” he said. “…When you go to the national level, there are a lot more people involved and that can create corruption.”

Although polls can include elections for federal offices such as president or Congress, the United States does not hold national elections like other countries do. All elections are organized by states and administered by local election offices in thousands of towns, cities and counties.

Election officials have acknowledged that many skeptical voters tend to point to other jurisdictions with false claims of fraud. Some groups have tried to counter this perception by pointing out that elections in each state are held at the local level.

“What’s difficult is that when we have national elections, a lot of times people throw election professionals under the bus of another state, and that doesn’t help,” said Tammy Patrick, a former election official now with the National Association of Election Officials.

Older voters have more confidence in vote counts at all levels than younger voters, including counts conducted by local election officials. About half of voters ages 18 to 29 are at least “somewhat” confident that votes will be counted accurately in their state or by their local election officials, compared to about 7 in 10 voters ages 60 and older .

The gap is, however, smaller for the national vote count: around 4 in 10 voters aged 18 to 29 have at least “a fair amount” of confidence, compared to around half of voters aged 60 and more.

Bill Sanchez, a 29-year-old criminal attorney in Monroe County, Pa., said older voters have been watching and participating in the voting process longer, giving them more time to build trust.

“Young voters have less voting experience and have spent much of their lives surrounded by this kind of misinformation that we’re seeing more and more of,” Sanchez said. “…It just creates a base for younger voters to be more wary.”

About 6 in 10 Republicans say ineligible voters are a major problem in U.S. elections, compared with 2 in 10 Democrats. Democrats and Republicans differ significantly on whether mail-in ballots returned via US Postal Service or via drop box will be counted accurately. About 6 in 10 Democrats are “extremely” or “very confident” that mail-in ballots returned by these methods will be counted accurately, compared to about 1 in 10 Republicans.

Democrats, meanwhile, are much more concerned about voter suppression than Republicans. About half of Democrats say voter suppression is a major problem, compared with about a third of Republicans.

And about 4 in 10 voters are concerned about other countries tampering with the U.S. electoral system or election results, which is down slightly from the last time the question was asked in February 2020. C t’s something that worries independent voters at least a little more. whether Democrats or Republicans.

Sanchez, the Pennsylvania lawyer, said he was more concerned about voter suppression than widespread fraud or miscounted ballots and called for the expansion of early voting and mail-in voting to “make the vote as accessible as possible. He also worries about the possibility that false claims of voter fraud could incite violence and unrest, and said he hopes elections officials’ attempts to inform voters before the election will be helpful.

“There is a lot of misinformation about election security from bad faith actors who are trying to create distrust and take advantage of the fact that people don’t always understand everything about the process,” Sanchez said. “And when we don’t understand everything about the process,” Sanchez said. understand things, we end up fearing it.”

Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press writer Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta contributed to this report.