What do Americans fear most ahead of presidential election? Here’s what new polls found
Ahead of what some experts are calling one of the most polarized presidential elections in U.S. history, new polls show American political fears have escalated.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found about 41 percent of registered voters say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about violent attempts to overturn the election results, compared to 23 percent who said they are “not very/at all” worried.
Thirty-seven percent are concerned about legal attempts to overturn election results, while 26 percent are not anxious about that at all. A similar share — 32 percent — said they fear local or state election officials could try to prevent results from being finalized, according to the poll.
The results come almost four years after former president Donald Trump tried to reverse election results, using false claims of electoral fraud before there was an armed assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
According to the poll, 65 percent of respondents do not think Trump will accept the results this time either, compared to 77 percent who say Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will.
The survey of 1,072 U.S. adults was taken Oct. 11-14 and has a margin of error of 4.03 percentage points.
In an interview with Bloomberg news editor in chief John Micklethwait on Oct. 15, the Republican nominee skirted a question when asked if he would respect a “peaceful transfer of power” after election results are confirmed, The Washington Post reported.
What else do Americans fear in 2024?
A study of American fears, published Oct. 23 by Chapman University in Orange, California, also found concerns about political violence at the forefront of many minds in 2024.
“The events of January 6, 2021, made clear that the peaceful transition of power in the wake of a presidential election can no longer be taken for granted,” researchers said in the survey.
The survey asked 1,008 Americans about 85 fears in the spring of 2024 and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
The top fear for Americans, according to the survey, is corrupt government officials, with nearly 65% of Americans saying so.
One of the researchers, professor of sociology Steve Pfaff, said that’s a fear that consistently shows up in the top fears.
“What that tells us is there is a profound mistrust; that American citizens are worried about their government and afraid that powerful or resourceful interests may have undue influence over the government,” Pfaff said in a news release.
Also among the top 10 fears in survey results were cyberterrorism, the possibility of global war, and economic uncertainty.
Nearly 56 percent of Americans are scared of Russia using nuclear weapons, and fears of the U.S. becoming involved in another world war and North Korea using nuclear weapons follow closely with a tie at 55 percent, according to results.
This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 10:30 AM with the headline "What do Americans fear most ahead of presidential election? Here’s what new polls found."
