USA/Elections—
By Nadia Ramlagan, producer, Kentucky News Connection, a bureau of Public News Service.
A new Gallup-Charles F. Kettering Foundation poll finds more than 70% of Americans are worried about different parts of the election process.
According to the poll, 67% of respondents worry political leaders will pressure election officials to change election outcomes, and 52% are concerned about people gathering near polling sites to intimidate voters or discourage them from casting ballots.
Derek Barker, the foundation’s senior research initiatives program officer, said elected leaders must take the results seriously.
“If large numbers of people start to doubt this fundamental process, you could see authoritarianism and political violence become more acceptable. So we think this is a warning sign,” Barker cautioned.
Last month, a federal judge dismissed a case brought against Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia by the Trump administration over the states’ refusal to hand over voter information. According to Campaign Legal Center, the Department of Justice continues to pressure states to sign agreements that would require them to remove voters from the voter rolls if the federal government flags them as ineligible.
Barker argued elected officials should use momentum on election security issues to enact reforms.
“There could be an opening here for leaders across the spectrum to come together and reach a grand bargain on reform, and that would be supported by a very solid majority,” Barker pointed out.
According to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office, the state ensures election security through strict offline voting technology and paper audit trails. State law makes it a felony to connect any voting tabulation or machine device to the internet.
