Voter Trust in Elections Nosedives as Trump Ramps Up Attacks

Voter confidence in U.S. elections has plunged to record lows as President Donald Trump intensifies his attacks on the integrity of the voting process.

New research by the UC San Diego Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections shows that only 60 percent of the 11,406 voters surveyed between mid-December and mid-January said they were confident that midterm votes will be counted fairly.

That is down from 77 percent after the 2024 presidential election.

Voter confidence in U.S. elections has also dropped sharply across party lines. While 82 percent of Republicans said they trusted the vote count after Trump’s 2024 victory, only 65 percent said so in the latest poll. Among Democrats, confidence declined from 77 percent to 64 percent, and among independents from 73 percent to 57 percent.

“Everyone—Democrats, Republicans, independents alike—have become less trusting of elections over the last year,” co-director of the UC San Diego Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections Thad Kousser, told the L.A. Times, calling it a “parallel movement in this polarized era.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

The reasons Americans are losing trust in elections differ sharply along party lines. Lauren Prather, co-director of a recent survey, noted that about half of Republicans cited fears over mail ballots and noncitizen voting, while nearly a quarter of Democrats worried that eligible voters could be prevented from casting ballots due to intimidation or fear.

Those concerns are being amplified by political and federal actions. Trump and other Republican leaders have repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that mail-in ballots lead to widespread fraud and that noncitizens are voting in U.S. elections.

Democrats and voting experts, meanwhile, warn of potential voter disenfranchisement, citing stricter election laws and intimidation tactics.

Recent developments have intensified the debate. Some Trump allies have suggested ICE agents could be stationed at polling places.

At the same time, the Trump administration launched efforts to obtain detailed personal information on tens of millions of voters ahead of the 2026 midterms, including names, birthdates, addresses, and driver’s licenses or partial Social Security numbers.

Many state election officials argue that this is federal overreach, noting that elections and voter-roll maintenance are managed at the state level, and that sharing such information could allow the federal government to remove voters the states themselves haven’t flagged.

Republican lawmakers, with Trump’s backing, have also pushed legislation and executive actions to tighten voter registration and voting rules.

The SAVE America Act, passed by the U.S. House, would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register, government-issued photo ID to vote in federal elections, limit mail-in voting, and restrict other aspects of the process. Critics say these measures could make it harder for eligible voters—including those without passports or birth certificates—to cast ballots and could amount to federal intrusion into state-run elections.

Trump has further called on Republicans to “take over the voting… in at least… 15 places” and to “nationalize the voting,” effectively centralizing aspects of elections traditionally managed by states.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem added to the controversy by claiming her department would “make sure we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders,” remarks that sparked widespread backlash.

The poll showed that concerns about ICE’s presence at polling places varied widely: 44 percent of Democrats, 34 percent of independents, and 30 percent of Republicans said it was likely.

Among Democrats, half said ICE’s presence would make them feel less confident their votes would count accurately, compared with fewer than 14 percent who said it would make them more confident. Among Republicans, 48 percent said they would be more confident, while 8 percent said they would be less confident; among independents, 19 percent said they would be more confident and 32 percent said they would be less confident.

Perceptions also differed by race. 42 percent of Asian American voters, 38 percent of Hispanic voters, 29 percent of white voters, and 28 percent of Black voters said ICE presence would reduce their confidence in the election.

Meanwhile, 18 percent of Asian Americans, 24 percent of Hispanics, 27 percent of whites, and 21 percent of Black voters said it would make them feel more confident.

Levels of expected intimidation also varied: 46 percent of Black and Hispanic voters, 35 percent of Asian Americans, and 10 percent of white voters said they anticipate facing intimidation, while 31 percent of Hispanic and Asian American voters, 21 percent of Black voters, and 8 percent of white voters worried specifically about being questioned by ICE at polling sites.

Kousser summarized the climate: “We’re at this moment now where there are people on both sides who are questioning what the objective conditions will be of the election—whether people will be able to freely make it to the polls, what the vote counting mechanisms will be—and that’s true sort of left, right, and center in American politics today.”

Sen. Adam Schiff told the L.A. Times that while he is “deeply concerned” about the midterms in light of Trump’s threats, voters should respond by becoming more engaged.

“The very best protection we’ll have is the most massive voter turnout we’ve ever had,” Schiff said. “It’s going to be those with the most important title in our system—the voters—who end up saving this country.”

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