Poll: Most Americans believe elections are key to the future of democracy

2024-08-08 19:41:15, Kosova & Bota CNA

A recent poll shows that most Americans believe that this year's presidential election is key to the future of the country's democracy.

Nearly three in four Americans believe the November 5th vote is vital to democracy.

A new poll conducted by the Associated Press news agency and the NORC Public Affairs Research Center shows that Americans' attitudes about the threat to democracy are based on their political leanings. Roughly 6 in 10 Democrats see the election as "extremely important" to the future of democracy, compared to 4 in 10 independent, or Republican, voters.

Many Democrats continue to see former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy, linking him to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. But the data also suggest that many of Mr. Trump's supporters agree that he is indeed a threat. for democracy is President Joe Biden.

Mr. Trump and his allies have accused Mr. Biden of politically using the Justice Department, which has charged the former president with trying to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election results and withholding classified documents, though there is no evidence that President Biden had any influence in bringing these charges.

Mr. Trump has portrayed himself as the defender of American values, while Mr. Biden as the "destroyer" of democracy. Several times after the assassination attempt against him, Mr. Trump said that he "took the bullet for democracy".

President Joe Biden, speaking in an interview with CBS News on Wednesday, said he had no confidence in a peaceful transfer of power if Mr. Trump lost the November election.

"If Trump loses, I don't have a lot of faith," he said when asked if he was considering a peaceful transition of office.

The poll, which came days after President Biden dropped out of the race and Ms. Harris announced she would run, offers the first views of Americans in light of a new presidential campaign context.

A majority of Democrats and Republicans say democracy could be at risk in this election depending on who wins the race, answers broadly in line with the results of the last poll asked that question, in an Associated Press poll of NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in December 2023.

Pamela Hanson, a Democrat from Wisconsin, says she worries that Mr. Trump, if he secures a second term, could use the conservative-majority Supreme Court to overturn some important rights.

While Ernie Wagner, a Republican from New York, says that "when Mr. Trump was in the White House, we had peace, prosperity and independence. What contradicts democracy in all this?", he asks.

Some independent voters are carefully assessing what's at stake in this election.

"I believe this is the most important election of my life," said Patricia Seliga-Williams, 53, of Maryland, an independent voter who appears to be leaning toward Ms. Harris.

She barely earns $15 an hour while working at a hotel during breakfast time. She remembers that Mr. Trump managed the economy and immigration well, according to her. However, he did not like it when he said that he intends to "become a dictator" on the first day he will take over the leadership of the White House. "We all know he could run this country. But he is becoming very aggressive and as a voter I can no longer trust him", she said.

Not everyone agrees that this year's presidential elections will be a turning point for the country's democracy, giving completely different reasons for this.

According to the poll, about 2 in 10 Americans say that democracy in the United States is strong enough to withstand the outcome of the election regardless of who wins, while another 2 in 10 believe that democracy has been so damaged that the outcome does not matter. ./ VOA