Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Perceptions of Fraud Across Voting Methods in the 2020 Election

Authors

Nadine S. Gibson, University of North Carolina WilmingtonFollow

Volume Number

52

Issue Number

1

Abstract

The hallmark of the 2020 election was the heightened anxiety over voter fraud as a result of a dramatic increase in vote-by-mail. De- spite scant evidence of actual voter fraud, state legislatures have responded to these suspicions by enacting new laws which target access to and ease of voting-by-mail. This study assesses the public’s perceptions of the prevalence of fraudulent election activity across voting methods as well as the durability of these attitudes over time. Public opinion data used for this analysis were collected from nationally representative samples (n=1,000) in late 2020 and 2021 ([Redacted] Cooperative Election Study Team Content). With a focus on identifying differences across voting methods, respondents in both survey years were given parallel survey items utilizing four- point scales of the prevalence of fraudulent election activities when voting-by-mail and in-person. Specifically, this study explores differences in perceptions of the frequency of the following scenarios: people voting more than once, people stealing or tampering with ballots, people pretending to be someone else when going to vote, non-citizen voting, and officials changing the reported vote count. Ultimately, this study finds evidence for clear differences in the attitudes of Biden and Trump voters regarding the prevalence of election fraud. As a general trend, voters in both parties were more suspicious when ballots are cast through the mail. Additionally, beliefs about fraud present in 2020 persisted well into 2021.

Recommended Citation

Gibson, Nadine S. (2024) "Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Perceptions of Fraud Across Voting Methods in the 2020 Election," Journal of Political Science: Vol. 52: No. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol52/iss1/1