- A majority of Americans continue to feel uneasy about the state of American democracy.
- However, the midterm elections present a silver lining – more Americans are confident their ballots were counted correctly and fairly in 2022 than 2020.
- There is a dramatic increase in Republican confidence between the 2020 and 2022 election results, while Democrats and independents remain just as confident in the results from 2022 as 2020.
- Voters have mixed feelings over who “won” the midterm election and whether they are satisfied with the results, though Democratic voters are clearly more satisfied with the outcome than their Republican counterparts.
Majorities Continue to Feel Uneasy About the State of American Democracy
Black Americans (59%) and Hispanic Americans (52%) are the only partisan or ethnic groups who are more confident than uneasy about the state of American democracy, and both Black Americans (14-point increase) and Hispanic Americans (12-point increase) have grown more confident in American democracy compared to before the midterms.
There is Greater Confidence Ballots Were Counted Fairly in 2022 Than 2020, Driven by Republicans
While Democrats and independents are equally confident across the past two elections, there has been a 27-point increase in Republican confidence between the 2020 Presidential election (31% confident) and the 2022 midterm election (58% confident).
Americans Remain Split Overall Over Which Side Has Been Winning and Losing in Politics Today
Democrats feel they’ve been winning more than losing (63% winning/22% losing), a 17-point net increase since October, while Republicans feel they’ve been losing more than winning (26% winning/61% losing), despite winning control of the House of Representatives.
Americans Are Split Over Which Party “Won” The Midterm Elections
A greater share of independents say that neither party really won (40%), than say the Democratic Party (20%) or the Republican Party (16%). And while 62% of Democrats say their party won in 2022, just 51% of Republicans say the same.
Democrats Much More Satisfied than Republicans About the Election; More Independents Satisfied than Dissatisfied
Two in three Democrats (66%) say they are satisfied about the outcome of the election, while a majority of Republicans (54%) are dissatisfied with the outcome.
Majorities Share Concerns About Politically Motivated Violence
Black Americans (71% very concerned) and Democrats (64% very concerned) are most likely to be very concerned about politically motivated violence.
