Most GOP voters think poll workers will monkey with election, new survey finds

Over half of Republican voters believe poll workers will tamper with the upcoming election, but less than a quarter feel any attempt would succeed. 

The results come from a YouGov poll, released Friday, which found that 55% of Republican voters believe it’s “very or somewhat likely” that poll workers will infringe on the November election versus 28% of Democrats and 34% of independents who feel the same. 

YouGov’s poll found that nearly 4 in 10 Americans believe it’s “somewhat likely” election workers will interfere with the election, while 42% say it’s “not very likely at all.” 

Still, 60% of those surveyed trust election workers a “moderate amount” to administer a free and fair election. Democrats surveyed, 80%, are likelier than Republicans, 47%, to trust the country’s poll workers at least a moderate amount.

Voters trust local poll workers more, with 68% of respondents believing that election workers in their communities will run a free and fair election. More Democratic voters, 83%, trust local poll workers than Republicans, 65%. 

The survey, conducted from Sept. 5-8 among 1,127 respondents, comes as early voting begins ahead of the November 5 election, including in the swing states of Georgia and North Carolina. 

In Georgia, where former President Donald Trump holds a narrow lead over Vice President Kamala Harris, 1.26 million voters have turned out for early voting as of Saturday, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s website. About 7 million registered voters are in the state, meaning 17% have cast their vote.

In North Carolina, where Mr. Trump averages a 1-point lead over Ms. Harris, election officials touted a record-breaking turnout of 353,166 ballots cast on the first day of early voting Thursday.