New Poll: Pennsylvania Electoral Process Survey from Muhlenberg College & Keep Our Republic

January 11, 2022 | Muhlenberg College

A new survey released today from the Muhlenberg Institute of Public Opinion, in conjunction with Keep Our Republic, a national civic education non-profit, shows Pennsylvania voters are sharply divided on electoral issues.

KEY FINDINGS

1. Over a year after the 2020 election, voters in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania remain deeply divided on many aspects of the last presidential election and on the future of electoral processes in the Keystone State.
2. While 6 in 10 Pennsylvanians who voted in last year’s election are confident that the election was conducted in a fair way, 4 in 10 reported they are not confident in the fairness of the election, with 24% not confident at all that the election was conducted fairly.
3. While divided on many issues related to electoral processes in the state, a strong majority (63%) disagree with the claim that the Pennsylvania State Legislature (the General Assembly) should be able to overturn the results of an election after the results had been certified by state and local election officials, with almost half (46%) strongly disagreeing with this potential action.
4. County election officials are more trusted to provide the state with safe, secure and accurate elections than the Commonwealth’s legislative, executive and judicial institutions. About two out of three (67%) 2020 voters either “strongly” or “somewhat” trust county officials on election matters, compared with 49% trusting the legislature, 45% trusting Governor Wolf, and 57% trusting the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the realm of election administration.
5. A majority (57%) of 2020 Democratic voters view voter suppression as the biggest threat to the state having a safe, secure and accurate election in 2022, while most Republicans identified voter fraud (37%).
6. About 4 in 10 Pennsylvania voters in the 2020 election are either “very” or “somewhat” confident that there was widespread election fraud in that election, including 7 out of 10 Republicans.
7. Most (56%) of the Pennsylvanians who voted in 2020 believe the events at the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021 were an insurrection against the United States Government. However, 63% of Republicans who cast ballots in 2020 disagreed that the January 6 events amounted to an insurrection against the U.S. Government.
8. Republican voters in the Commonwealth indicate significantly lower levels of trust and confidence in all electoral processes and state institutions compared to their Democratic and independent counterparts. The lower trust extends to Republican-controlled institutions such as the state legislature and to voting processes such as electronic voting machines that were used by the majority of GOP voters in 2020.