About half concerned Republicans could try to overturn midterm results: Survey

A new poll released Friday suggests half of Americans are concerned Republicans may try to overturn the results of November’s midterm election.

Fifty percent of respondents to the New York Times/Siena University survey said they were either “very” or “somewhat worried” the GOP may use “illegal means” to overturn the election, compared to 49 percent who are either “not too worried” or “not at all worried.”

A strong majority of Democrats — 86 percent — were among the share of likely voters who reported feeling worry about potential GOP election interference, and 52 percent independents felt the same. Even 10 percent of Republicans say they are worried their own party would overturn the results.

NYT/Siena also asked respondents if they feared Democrats may overturn the results, and 31 percent said they were — a group mainly consisting of Republicans.

Still, similar shares of Democratic, Republican and independents respondents to the NYT/Siena poll said they trusted midterm results would be accurate. And, across all parties, likely voters’ trust reached 74 percent.

President Trump has pushed claims of voter fraud for years, mainly when he or his party loses. Courts and election officials have consistently debunked or found no evidence for claims of widespread fraud in U.S. elections.

Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Thursday the Justice Department (DOJ) has no intention “to improperly interfere with elections or the state confirmation process or certification process.” However, he did not rule out the potential for the DOJ to intervene in or block states from verifying election results.

O n Friday morning, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of the Alaska Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.

The DOJ argued that, because another candidate with the same name is on the ballot, the election is not fair and could confuse voters. Sen. Sullivan is identified on the ballot with his Republican and incumbent status to differentiate himself from the other Dan Sullivan.

The poll was conducted Oct. 12-19 among 3,494 likely voters nationwide. The margin of error is 1.9 percentage points