Unity Poll: Supermajority Says Confident Their Vote Will Be Counted, Gaining Confidence in Elections Across the US

The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy conducted a nationwide survey between September 20th and 23rd that examined critical questions at the heart of our democratic process and the 2024 election: trust in the accuracy of vote counting, concerns about democracy and freedom, and the impact of the vice presidential candidates on the ticket .

According to this poll, only 10 percent of Americans do not believe our democracy is in danger, and just over 50 percent believe it is “under attack.” The rest of the country felt that our system was being “tested.” However, when asked about “personal freedom,” a similar pattern emerged. In short, there is widespread concern about the state of democracy and personal freedom – issues that certainly played a role in the campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Voting integrity has become a consequential issue as Trump frequently questions the accuracy of the election results. The Unity poll sought to find out whether the public is more concerned about the total number of votes or whether their individual vote will be counted. People tend to have more trust in their local officials than in politicians in general, and this poll found similar results: Over 60 percent of respondents were at least somewhat confident that “votes statewide” are being counted correctly. However, if you ask instead whether “your vote” is counted correctly, this confidence rises to 71 percent.

While vice presidential candidates typically don’t play a major role in presidential elections, recent political discourse has revolved around the potential influence of vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance on the 2024 presidential election. Everyone has speculated that Vance’s unpopularity was a problem for Trump, but there is little data to test such an idea.

The Unity poll examined whether mentioning the vice presidential election when asked about public support for Harris and Trump had an impact on the candidates they would vote for. The data suggests that neither Vance nor Walz had an impact on the overall vote. The bottom line of the Unity poll is that Harris has a modest two to three point lead over Trump nationally, regardless of whether Vance and Walz are mentioned.

The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy also sponsors this Vanderbilt Unity Index. “The Vanderbilt Unity Survey should provide regular snapshots of Americans’ sense of national political unity and their trust in the country’s democratic institutions,” said John Geer, director of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy.

SSRS conducted the Vanderbilt Unity survey on its Opinion Panel Omnibus platform. Between September 20 and September 23, 2024, 1,030 people ages 18 and older responded across multiple platforms in Spanish and English. The survey has a margin of error of +/-3.8 at a 95% confidence level.