Poll: Two-Thirds of Americans Believe Trump Is Unprepared for Election Result

A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll indicates that a considerable majority of Americans, including the supporters of both major candidates, are ready to accept the results of the upcoming 2024 presidential election as legitimate. However, the same sentiment does not extend to Donald Trump, whose supporters show a notable lack of confidence in the electoral process.

According to the survey, 81% of respondents across the nation affirmed their willingness to accept the election results regardless of their preferred candidate. In comparison, 68% expressed confidence that Vice President Kamala Harris would accept the outcome. Conversely, only 29% believe Trump would be similarly accepting.

Support for this sentiment is especially strong among Harris’s backers, with 92% indicating their readiness to accept the election results. In stark contrast, only 76% of Trump’s supporters share this assurance, revealing a pronounced division in perceptions of electoral legitimacy. Notably, 21% of Trump supporters, equating to approximately 8% of the broader adult population, are unwilling to accept the election results.

The poll, conducted by Langer Research Associates for ABC News, sheds light on further political rifts. Among Harris’s supporters, a remarkable 97% believe she will accept the election results, while just 44% of Trump’s supporters express the same belief regarding him. Additionally, only 6% of Harris supporters think Trump is prepared to accept the outcome, a sentiment that rises to 58% among his own supporters.

Concerns about election integrity remain significant among voters. One-third of those surveyed (34%) expressed doubts about whether votes will be accurately counted, a sentiment that parallels figures from the previous year. While 65% remain somewhat or very confident in the accuracy of the vote count, only 32% of respondents expressed strong confidence.

Furthermore, an identical 34% of respondents continue to believe that President Joe Biden did not legitimately win the election in 2020, a view that has remained largely unchanged since he took office. This mistrust is deeply intertwined with perceptions of election integrity; nearly 90% of Americans who endorse the notion that Biden was legitimately elected have confidence in the accuracy of this year’s vote count. In contrast, only 26% of those who contest the legitimacy of Biden’s election feel the same.

The correlation between confidence in vote counting and personal preparedness to accept election outcomes is stark. Among those confident in the reliability of the voting process, a notable 92% say they are willing to accept the election results, compared to 61% among those who harbor doubts. Similarly, 91% of individuals who believe Biden was legitimately elected are prepared to accept the upcoming election results, while that number drops to just 64% for those who do not share that belief.

Partisan divides also emerge when examining confidence in the accuracy of the vote count. Among Republicans, 51% lack confidence in the electoral process, whereas 90% of Democrats express trust in it. Among independents, 64% share this confidence. Consistent patterns are observed regarding beliefs about Biden’s legitimacy, where 96% of Democrats affirm he was legitimately elected, compared to 30% of Republicans.

Despite these partisan divides, the willingness to accept electoral outcomes is more bipartisan, with approximately 80% of Republicans and independents indicating they will accept the results, alongside 89% of Democrats.

Ideological distinctions also play a crucial role in shaping opinions on the election. At least 80% of individuals identifying as liberal, moderate, or somewhat conservative are prepared to accept the election outcome. However, that acceptance drops to 64% among those who classify themselves as very conservative. Notably, confidence in the accuracy of vote counts is significantly lower among very conservative individuals, with just 38% expressing trust.

This poll, conducted online from August 23 to 27, 2024, surveyed a random national sample of 2,496 adults and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points. The partisan split among respondents was reported as 29-29-30% for Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, respectively.

Source: ABC News