Majority of Registered Voters Oppose US Election Delay: Reuters/Ipsos Poll
Two thirds of registered American voters oppose delaying the Nov. 3 presidential election due to the coronavirus pandemic, and more than half think President Donald Trump floated the idea of postponing it last week to…
Two thirds of registered American voters oppose delaying the Nov. 3 presidential election due to the coronavirus pandemic, and more than half think President Donald Trump floated the idea of postponing it last week to help himself politically, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling released on Wednesday.
The national public opinion poll was conducted from July 31 to Aug. 4, shortly after Trump said without providing evidence that a surge in mail-in voting would lead to widespread voter fraud and suggested the election be delayed. The idea was immediately rejected by Democrats and Republicans in Congress, who have sole authority to change the election date.
Most Americans also rejected the suggestion. The poll showed 66% of registered voters oppose postponing the November vote, including 8 out of 10 Democrats and 5 in 10 Republicans.
Another 23% of registered voters – mostly Republicans – supported an election delay and 11% said they were not sure.
A separate Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Aug. 3-4 found that Democratic candidate Joe Biden leads Trump by 10 percentage points in support among registered voters, less than 100 days before the presidential election. A plurality, 44%, believe Biden would be better than Trump at steering the nation’s response to the pandemic.
Asked why they thought Trump wanted to postpone the election, 54% of registered voters suggested they thought Trump was trying to help himself get re-elected. Some 42% said Trump “thinks he will have a better chance of winning if the election is postponed” and 12% said the president “wants to distract the country from the pandemic and the economy.”
Another 21% said they thought Trump was concerned about voter fraud, and 10% said Trump “wants to protect Americans from the spread of coronavirus at polling locations.”
Americans were split along party lines over Trump’s intentions, with Democrats largely suspecting the president of trying to benefit himself politically and Republicans largely agreeing with Trump’s rationale of protecting the integrity of American elections.
Some legal experts warned that Trump’s repeated attacks could undermine his supporters’ faith in the election process and could make it harder for them to accept the results should he lose.