Most GOP voters don't believe the election was fair: Politico Poll

By Ian Miles Cheong
|
November 10, 2020

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A poll of 1,987 voters, conducted by Politico and Morning Consult, began prior to Election Day suggested that 70% of Republicans believe the 2020 election was neither free nor fair. Most interviews were carried out after the election.

A majority of both Republicans and Democrats appeared to have believed that the 2020 presidential election would be free and fair before the votes were tallied, but the results have altered their opinions radically. Politico reported:

Multiple new organizations announced Biden as the election winner on Saturday after four days of counting in several swing states. Following the news, 70 percent of Republicans now say they don’t believe the 2020 election was free and fair, a stark rise from the 35 percent of GOP voters who held similar beliefs before the election. Meanwhile, trust in the election system grew for Democrats, many who took to the streets to celebrate Biden’s victory on Saturday. Ninety percent of Democrats now say the election was free and fair, up from 52 percent before Nov. 3 who thought it would be.

Among Republicans who believed that the election wasn’t free and fair, 78 percent believed that mail-in voting led to widespread voter fraud and 72 percent believed that ballots were tampered with — both claims that have made a constant appearance on the president’s Twitter thread. Like President Donald Trump, a majority of the people that thought the election was unfair, 84 percent, said it benefited Biden.

The lack of trust in the election system has led to Republicans being more skeptical about the election results. Although only 18 percent of Republicans had said the results would be unreliable prior to Election Day, now 64 percent feel the same way following Biden’s victory. By contrast, 86 percent of Democrats say they trust the results.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union set standards for determining whether an election is, in fact, free and fair.

The standards set include:

(3) Everyone individually and together with others has the right:

● To express political opinions without interference;

● To seek, receive and impart information and to make an informed choice;

● To move freely within the country in order to campaign for election;

● To campaign on an equal basis with other political parties, including the party forming the existing government.

(4) Every candidate for election and every political party shall have an equal opportunity of access to the media, particularly the mass communications media, in order to put forward their political views.

(5) The right of candidates to security with respect to their lives and property shall be recognized and protected.

Many of the conditions stated above were breached during the 2020 election, thanks to coronavirus restrictions, social media censorship, and a rise in political violence throughout the country.

The standards require that “steps are taken to guarantee non-partisan coverage in State and public-service media,” a principle violated by irrefutable media bias.

The standards also require “the transparency of the entire electoral process including, for example, through the presence of party agents and duly accredited observers.” Throughout several states, Republican observers have stated that they have been excluded in several states.

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US Election 2020