Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Recent partisan claims about the illegitimacy of the 2020 election highlight a need to better understand the determinants underlying Americans' trust in the electoral process. In this study, we focus on African Americans and conservatives, two groups that stand out both historically and contemporaneously for high levels of distrust in elections. Utilizing nationally representative survey data, we analyze the degree to which election distrust is associated with respondents’ attitudes towards policies addressing voter access (photo ID requirements, vote by-mail, and felon voting), perceptions of disenfranchisement, and their personal experience while voting. We find evidence that distrust is not tied to one’s personal voting experience, but rather to one’s policy attitudes towards electoral access. Importantly, for conservative and Black voters, the policy remedies that would lead to increased trust for one group would only further exacerbate the concerns of the other, suggesting that distrust towards American elections will be difficult to attenuate.

Keywords

ideology race/ethnicity voting distrust

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alexander

(2010). The new jim crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New Press.

Alvarez

R. M.

Cao

(2021). Voting experiences, perceptions of fraud, and voter confidence. Social Science Quarterly, 102(4), 1225–1238. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12940

Alvarez

R. M.

Hall

T. E.

Llewellyn

M. H.

(2008). Are Americans confident their ballots are counted? The Journal of Politics, 70(3), 754–766. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022381608080730

American Bar Association . (2021). Current litigation related to the 2020 election. Executive summary. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/publicinterest/electionlaw/litigation/

Atkeson

L. R.

Alvarez

R. M.

Hall

T. E.

(2015). Voter confidence: How to measure it and how it differs from government support. Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy, 14(3), 207–219. https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2014.0293

Avery

J. M.

(2006). The sources and consequences of political Mistrust among African Americans. American Politics Research, 34(5), 653–682. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673x06286366

Avery

J. M.

(2007). Race, partisanship, and political trust following bush versus Gore (2000). Political Behavior, 29(3), 327–342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-006-9021-6

Baringer

Herron

M. C.

Smith

D. A.

(2020). Voting by mail and ballot rejection: Lessons from Florida for elections in the age of the coronavirus. Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy, 19(3), 289–320. https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2020.0658

Barreto

M. A.

Nuño

Sanchez

G. R.

Walker

H. L.

(2019). The racial implications of voter identification laws in America. American Politics Research, 47(2), 238–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673x18810012

10.

Barretto

(2020). Debunking the myth of voter fraud in mail ballots. Political Science Research and Methods. https://latino.ucla.edu/research/ucla-voting-rights-project-debunking-the-myth-of-voter-fraud-in-mail-ballots/

11.

Behrens

Uggen

Manza

(2003). Ballot manipulation and the “Menace of Negro domination”: Racial threat and felon disenfranchisement in the United States, 1850–2002. American Journal of Sociology, 109(3), 559–605. https://doi.org/10.1086/378647

12.

Berlinski

Doyle

Guess

A. M.

Levy

Lyons

Montgomery

J. M.

Nyhan

Reifler

(2021). The effects of unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud on confidence in elections. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 10, 34–49. https://doi.org/10.1017/xps.2021.18

13.

Bowler

Donovan

(2016). A partisan model of electoral reform: Voter identification laws and confidence in state elections. State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 16(3), 340–361. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532440015624102

14.

Brennan Center for Justice (2017). Resources on voter fraud claims. Brennan Center for Justice. Accessed November 1, 2023 at https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/resources-voter-fraud-claims

15.

Bryant

L. A.

(2020). Seeing is believing: An experiment on absentee ballots and voter confidence: Part of special symposium on election sciences. American Politics Research, 48(6), 700–704. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673x20922529

16.

Bullock

C. S.

III Hood

M. V.

III Clark

Clark

(2005). Punch cards, Jim Crow, and Al Gore: Explaining voter trust in the electoral system in Georgia, 2000. State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 5(3), 283–294. https://doi.org/10.1177/153244000500500305

17.

Burmila

E. M.

(2017). Voter turnout, felon disenfranchisement and partisan outcomes in presidential elections, 1988–2012. Social Justice Research, 30(1), 72–88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-017-0277-2

18.

Burnett

(2023). Trump calls for GOP debates to end after skipping them. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-calls-for-gop-debates-to-end-after-skipping-them

19.

Carey

Clayton

Helmke

Nyhan

Sanders

Stokes

(2020). Who will defend democracy? Evaluating tradeoffs in candidate support among partisan donors and voters. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties, 32(1), 230–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2020.1790577

20.

Chanley

V. A.

Rudolph

T. J.

Rahn

W. M.

(2000). The origins and consequences of public trust in government: A time series analysis. Public Opinion Quarterly, 64(3), 239–256. https://doi.org/10.1086/317987

21.

Chen

M. K.

Kareem

Pope

D. G.

Rohla

(2020). Racial disparities in voting wait times: Evidence from smartphone data. Review of economics and statistics (pp. 1–27). MIT Press.

22.

Citrin

(1974). Comment: The political relevance of trust in government. American Political Science Review, 68(3), 973–988. https://doi.org/10.2307/1959141

23.

Citrin

Luks

(2001). Political trust revisited: Déjà Vu all over again?”. In What is it About Government that Americans Dislike? (pp. 9–27). Cambridge University Press.

24.

Claassen

R. L.

Magleby

D. B.

Monson

J. Q.

Patterson

K. D.

(2013). Voter confidence and the election-day voting experience. Political Behavior, 35(2), 215–235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-012-9202-4

25.

Clark

J. T.

(2021b). Lost in the mail? Vote by mail and voter confidence. Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy, 20(4), 382–394. https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2020.0682

26.

Clark

Stewart

III. (2021). The confidence earthquake: Seismic shifts in trust. Working paper. Available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3825118

27.

Coll

(2022a). Waiting to vote safely: How Covid-19 safety measures shaped in-person voter wait times during the 2020 election. Social Science Quarterly, 103(2), 380–398. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13124

28.

Coll

Tolbert

Ritter

(2022b). Understanding preferences for comprehensive electoral reform in the United States. Social Science Quarterly, 103(7), 1523–1538. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13220

29.

Craig

S. C.

(2018). The angry voter: Politics and popular discontent in the 1990s. Broken contract? (pp. 46–66). Routledge.

30.

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency . (2020). Joint statement from elections infrastructure government coordinating council and the election infrastructure sector coordinating executive committees. https://www.cisa.gov/news/2020/11/12/joint-statement-elections-infrastructure-government-coordinating-council-election

31.

DHS, Department of Homeland Security . (2021). Joint statement from the departments of justice and homeland security assessing the impact of foreign interference during the 2020 U.S. elections. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/03/16/joint-statement-departments-justice-and-homeland-security-assessing-impact-foreign

32.

Easton

(1975). A Re-assessment of the concept of political support. British Journal of Political Science, 5(4), 435–457. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123400008309

33.

Edelson

Alduncin

Krewson

Sieja

J. A.

Uscinski

J. E.

(2017). The effect of conspiratorial thinking and motivated reasoning on belief in election fraud. Political Research Quarterly, 70(4), 933–946. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912917721061

34.

Eggers

A. C.

Garro

Grimmer

(2021). No evidence for systematic voter fraud: A guide to statistical claims about the 2020 election. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(45), Article e2103619118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2103619118

35.

Eubank

Fresh

(2022). Enfranchisement and incarceration after the 1965 voting rights act. American Political Science Review, 116(3), 791–806. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055421001337

36.

Fortier

J. C.

(2006). Absentee and Early Voting: Trends, Promises, and Perils. American Enterprise Institute Press.

37.

Garnett

H. A.

(2019). On the front lines of democracy: Perceptions of electoral officials and democratic elections. Democratization, 26(8), 1399–1418. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2019.1641797

38.

Gerber

A. S.

Huber

G. A.

Hill

S. J.

(2013). Identifying the effect of all-mail elections on turnout: Staggered reform in the evergreen state. Political Science research and methods, 1(1), 91–116. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2013.5

39.

Graham

M. H.

Svolik

M. W.

(2020). Democracy in America? Partisanship, polarization, and the robustness of support for democracy in the United States. American Political Science Review, 114(2), 392–409. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055420000052

40.

Gronke

Galanes-Rosenbaum

Miller

P. A.

Toffey

(2008). Convenience voting. Annual Review of Political Science, 11(1), 437–455. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.11.053006.190912

41.

Hajnal

Kuk

Lajevardi

(2018). We all agree: Strict voter ID laws disproportionately burden minorities. The Journal of Politics, 80(3), 1052–1059. https://doi.org/10.1086/696617

42.

Hajnal

Lajevardi

Nielson

(2017). Voter identification laws and the suppression of minority votes. The Journal of Politics, 79(2), 363–379. https://doi.org/10.1086/688343

43.

Hetherington

M. J.

(1998). The political relevance of political trust. American Political Science Review, 92(4), 791–808. https://doi.org/10.2307/2586304

44.

Hetherington

M. J.

(1999). The effect of political trust on the presidential vote, 1968–96. American Political Science Review, 93(2), 311–326. https://doi.org/10.2307/2585398

45.

Janover

Westphal

(2020). Signature verification and mail ballots: Guaranteeing access while preserving integrity—a case study of California’s every vote counts act. Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy, 19(3), 321–343. https://doi.org/10.1089/elj.2020.0648

46.

Kane

J. V.

Wilson

D. C.

(2021). Controversy and costs: Investigating the consensus on American voter ID laws. Political Behavior, 43(1), 397–421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-020-09643-0

47.

Keele

(2005). The authorities really do matter: Party control and trust in government. The Journal of Politics, 67(3), 873–886. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2508.2005.00343.x

48.

Keyssar

(2009). The right to vote: The contested history of democracy in the United States. Basic Books.

49.

King

B. A.

(2017). Policy and precinct: Citizen evaluations and electoral confidence. Social Science Quarterly, 98(2), 672–689. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12303

50.

King

B. A.

(2020). Waiting to vote: The effect of administrative irregularities at polling locations and voter confidence. Policy Studies, 41(2–3), 230–248. https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2019.1694652

51.

Levi

Stoker

(2000). Political trust and trustworthiness. Annual Review of Political Science, 3(1), 475–507. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.3.1.475

52.

Levy

(2021). Winning cures everything? Beliefs about voter fraud, voter confidence, and the 2016 election. Electoral Studies, 74, 102156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102156

53.

Listhaug

(1995). The dynamics of trust in politicians. Citizens and the state (pp. 261–297). Oxford University Press.

54.

Llewellyn

M. H.

Hall

T. E.

Alvarez

R. M.

(2009). Electoral context and voter confidence. how the context of an election shapes voter confidence in the process.

55.

Meredith

Morse

(2015). The politics of the restoration of ex-felon voting rights: The case of Iowa. Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 10(1), 41–100. https://doi.org/10.1561/100.00013026

56.

Miller

A. H.

(1974a). Political issues and trust in government: 1964–1970. American Political Science Review, 68(3), 951–972. https://doi.org/10.2307/1959140

57.

Miller

A. H.

(1974b). Rejoinder to “comment” by Jack Citrin: Political discontent or ritualism? American Political Science Review, 68(3), 989–1001. https://doi.org/10.2307/1959142

58.

Norris

(1999). Introduction: The growth of critical citizens?” Critical citizens (pp. 1–27). Global Support for Democratic Government.

59.

Norris

Garnett

H. A.

Grömping

(2020). The paranoid style of American elections: Explaining perceptions of electoral integrity in an age of populism. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties, 30(1), 105–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2019.1593181

60.

Park-Ozee

Jarvis

S. E.

(2021). What does rigged mean? Partisan and widely shared perceptions of threats to elections. American Behavioral Scientist, 65(4), 587–599. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764220979777

61.

Piven

F. F.

Minnite

L. C.

Groarke

(2009). Keeping down the black vote: Race and the demobilization of American voters. New Press.

62.

ProCon . (2023). State voting laws policies for people with felony convictions. https://felonvoting.procon.org/state-felon-voting-laws/

63.

Przeworski

Stokes

S. C.

Manin

(1999) Democracy, accountability, and representation (Vol. 2). Cambridge University Press.

64.

Richardson

(2022). Axios momentive poll: January 6 revisited. https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/axios-january-6-revisited/?fbclid=IwAR1KS7rtzwjoFFiRtYPjw2dcCCE9vnAtBhps6TKFlDyMlh0qRyTr–DpSkg

65.

Rocha

R. R.

Matsubayashi

(2014). The politics of race and voter ID laws in the states: The return of Jim Crow? Political Research Quarterly, 67(3), 666–679. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912913514854

66.

Safarpour

A. C.

Hanmer

M. J.

(2020). Information about coronavirus exposure effects attitudes towards voting methods. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 9(1), 147–151. https://doi.org/10.1017/xps.2020.38

67.

Sammer

(2023). Donald Trump becomes first U.S ex-president to be indicted on federal criminal charges. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/06/09/donald-trump-becomes-the-first-us-ex-president-to-be-indicted-on-federal-criminal-charges.html#:˜:text=Former%20President%20Donald%20Trump%20faces,his%20personal%20home%20in%20Florida

68.

Sanger

D. E.

(2020). Tuesday’s debate made clear the gravest threat to the election: The president himself. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/us/politics/trump-debate-election.html

69.

Sears

(1988). Symbolic racism. Eliminating racism: Profiles in controversy. Springer US.

70.

Sheagley

Udani

(2021). Multiple meanings? The link between partisanship and definitions of voter fraud. Electoral Studies, 69, 102244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102244

71.

Shino

Suttmann-Lea

Smith

D. A.

(2021). Determinants of rejected mail ballots in Georgia’s 2018 general election. Political Research Quarterly, 75(1), 231–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912921993537

72.

Sinclair

Smith

S. S.

Tucker

P. D.

(2018). “It’s largely a rigged system”: Voter confidence and the winner effect in 2016. Political Research Quarterly, 71(4), 854–868. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912918768006

73.

United States Commission on Civil Rights . (2001). Voting irregularities in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. US Government Printing Office. https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/vote2000/report/exesum.htm

74.

Van der Linden

Panagopoulos

Azevedo

Jost

J. T.

(2021). The paranoid style in American politics revisited: An ideological asymmetry in conspiratorial thinking. Political Psychology, 42(1), 23–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12681

75.

Walsh

K. C.

(2010). Talking about politics. University of Chicago Press.

76.

Webster

S. W.

(2018). Anger and declining trust in government in the American electorate. Political Behavior, 40(4), 933–964. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-017-9431-7

77.

Wilson

D. C.

Brewer

P. R.

(2013). The foundations of public opinion on voter ID laws: Political predispositions, racial resentment, and information effects. Public Opinion Quarterly, 77(4), 962–984. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nft026

78.

Wilson

D. C.

Carter

Brown-Dean

K. L.

(2018). Factors affecting support for felon voting rights: Personal beliefs, felon attributes, and political context. 2019 National conference of black political scientists (NCOBPS) annual meeting. Accessed at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3283465

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

9.96 MB