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Most Americans believe democracy is being challenged left and right.
That’s according to a new CNN poll released on Wednesday, the International Day of Democracy, which found that 93% of respondents said U.S. democracy is either under attack or being tested. Just 6% said American democracy is in no danger at all.
What’s more, over half (51%) of respondents said they believe it’s likely that elected officials in the U.S. will eventually overturn the results of a future election because their party didn’t win.
The survey was conducted from Aug. 3-Sept. 7 among a random, national sample of 2,119 adults who were initially contacted by mail before polled online or over the phone. And the report was published the day after California Gov. Gavin Newsom defeated a recall vote that attempted to boot the Democrat out of office early, in part over his COVID-19 restrictions.
It also comes after former President Donald Trump and his supporters have continued to allege that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was fraudulent after Trump lost, despite the Justice Department finding zero evidence of widespread voter fraud, and the courts rejecting multiple lawsuits questioning Joe Biden’s victory.
Trump also tried pushing unfounded fraud claims against the California recall vote earlier this week, releasing a statement that read: “Does anybody really believe the California Recall Election isn’t rigged?”
The CNN poll found that Republicans (75%) are much more likely than Democrats (46%) to say that U.S. democracy is under attack. And Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who said that Trump should be the leader of the party were even more likely to see democracy being threatened (79%) compared with Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who don’t think Trump should lead the party (51%.)
Americans were pretty evenly split over their faith in future elections, with 48% saying they were very or somewhat confident in American elections, versus 52% who are just a little or not at all confident.
Meanwhile, a spate of 30 new voting laws — many inspired by Trump’s false voter fraud claims — have been enacted in 18 states over the summer that will make it more difficult for Americans to vote, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal-leaning nonprofit law and public policy institute.
Read more: Democrats pare back voting bill but still face Senate headwinds
Earlier on Wednesday, President Biden released a statement in honor of the International Day of Democracy; a date the United Nations has marked to review the state of democracy in the world. “And in a moment when democracy is increasingly challenged by those who seek to govern through force and repression, it is incumbent on democracies to prove that we are able to deliver for the needs of our people as we strive toward a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable world,” he wrote, before announcing that he will host a virtual Summit for Democracy on Dec. 9-10.
