More than 50% of Americans say they believe democracy is “under attack,” while only 10% say U.S. democracy is jot in danger, the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy survey finds.
The rest of those queried said our system was being “tested.” When asked, instead, about “personal freedom,” a similar pattern emerged. In short, there is widespread concern about the state of democracy and personal freedom – themes that have certainly played out on the campaign trail for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
The poll was conducted Sept. 20-23, examining crucial issues at the heart of our democratic process and the 2024 elections: confidence in the accuracy of vote counting, worries about democracy and freedom and the impact of the vice presidential candidates on the ticket.
Vote integrity has become a consequential issue, as Trump frequently questions the accuracy of election results. The Unity Poll sought to gauge if the public is more worried about overall vote counts or whether their individual vote will be counted. People tend to have more faith in their local officials than in politicians in general, and this survey reflected similar results: Over 60 percent of respondents were at least somewhat confident that “votes nationwide” are being counted accurately. However, when asked instead if “your vote” is being counted correctly, that confidence rises to 71%.
While vice presidential nominees do not tend to matter much in presidential elections, political discourse has swirled recently around the potential impact of vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance on the 2024 presidential tickets. any have speculated that Vance’s unpopularity was a problem for Trump, but there is little data to test such an idea.
The Unity Poll assessed whether mentioning the VP picks when asking about the public’s support for Harris and Trump affected the candidates they said they would vote for. The data indicates that neither Vance nor Walz impacts the overall vote. The bottom line in the Unity Poll is that Harris holds a modest 2-3 point lead nationally over Trump, regardless of whether Vance and Walz are mentioned.
The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy also sponsors the Vanderbilt Unity Index.
“The Vanderbilt Unity Poll should provide regular snapshots of Americans’ sense of national political unity and their faith in the country’s democratic institutions,” said John Geer, head of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy.
SSRS conducted the Vanderbilt Unity Poll on its Opinion Panel Omnibus Platform. Between Sept. 20-23, 1,030 people across the nation, age 18 and older, responded across several platforms in Spanish and English. The poll has a margin of error of +/-3.8 at the 95% confidence level.