(The Center Square) – Confidence in election counts and in the integrity of this year’s election is just more than 7 in 10 for North Carolinians, a new poll released Tuesday says.
“It’s reassuring that a significant majority of North Carolinians are confident that their vote, the key act of participating in our democratic republic, will be counted accurately and with confidence in the integrity of our state’s election system,” said Dr. Michael Bitzer, professor of politics and history and director of the Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service at Catawba College. “We hope that the concerns about their safety in casting ballots won’t deter fellow North Carolinians from being engaged and involved in this upcoming election.”
Asked if they expect votes in their county to be counted accurately, 74.6% are either very confident or somewhat confident. The breakdown was 43.5% very confident, and 31.1% somewhat confident.
Outside of their county, whether the state’s other 99 or in another state, the confidence level drops about the same. It’s 61% for accuracy in North Carolina outside of the respondents’ home county, and 61.4% for other states.
For integrity, respondents were asked “Regardless of whether your candidate or party wins or loses the election this November in North Carolina, how confident will you be in the safety, security, and integrity of the election in North Carolina?” Confidence here was at 71.6%, with 27.4% very confident and 43.2% somewhat confident.
The sampling was taken Aug. 7-20 by YouGov and sponsored by the Catawba College Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service. The 1,000 respondents are age 18 and older from North Carolina. The margin of error is +/- 3.87%.
Absentee by mail ballots go out on Friday from the state’s 100 county boards of elections. Early in-person voting is 44 days away and Election Day is 63 days away.
Regarding absentee by mail ballots, Catawba’s poll found 62% of Republicans lack confidence in the system as a “secure way to cast a ballot in North Carolina.” Only 13% of Democrats agreed.
