Nearly half of U.S. voters believe election officials have been involved in cheating, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey released Thursday.
The survey of 1,854 likely voters was conducted from Oct. 27-29 and has a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points.
When asked whether there are "election workers and officials who have enabled fraud in elections," 49% said yes, 27% said no, and 24% said they were not sure.
By political party, 62% of Republicans, 38% of Democrats and 47% of unaffiliated voters said there are election workers and officials who have enabled fraud in elections.
More men (54%) than women (44%) said election workers and officials have enabled fraud.
The poll also showed that 43% said election officials found guilty of cheating should be prohibited from holding public office in the future, serve prison sentences, and pay fines.
Just 22% said withholding future public office from violators is a sufficient penalty, 19% said prison alone is an appropriate punishment and 9% favored fines. Another 2% said they would impose the death penalty on officials convicted of committing voter fraud.
Asked how likely is it "officials who have enabled election cheating will be held criminally accountable," 48% said it is likely, including 26% who said it is "very likely." But 45% said they don’t think it’s likely, including 14% who said it’s "not at all likely."
More Democrats (62%) than Republicans (38%) and unaffiliated voters (41%) believe it's likely officials who have enabled election cheating will be held criminally accountable.
The survey found that Democrats are less likely than Republicans or unaffiliated voters to say officials found guilty of cheating in elections should be subjected to prohibition from holding public office, fines, and prison sentences.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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