Most voters say that the 2024 elections were run and administered well, both in their local communities and across the country.
- 95% of those who report having voted this year say that elections in their community were run and administered at least somewhat well, including 69% who say they were run very well.
- 88% of voters also say the elections across the United States were run and administered well, though a smaller share (43%) say they were administered very well.
While voters have long had highly positive views about election administration locally, that is not the case for evaluations of how elections were conducted across the country.
- In 2020, 59% of voters said elections across the country were run and administered at least somewhat well. This was a sharp drop from assessments of the 2018 midterm election and came amid Donald Trump’s challenge to the 2020 election results.
- Views rebounded in the 2022 midterm, with 74% saying that election was run and administered well.
- Evaluations of this year’s election administration around the country were even more positive, with 88% saying this.
Views of election administration among Trump and Harris voters
About nine-in-ten Trump voters (93%) say elections around the country were run well this year. A smaller share of Kamala Harris voters – though still an overwhelming majority (84%) – also say this.
This is a departure from both the 2020 and 2022 elections, when Democratic candidate voters were much more likely than Republican candidate voters to say that elections around the country were run and administered at least somewhat well.
Following the 2020 presidential election, 94% of Joe Biden voters said elections around the U.S. were run and administered well, while just 21% of Trump voters said this.
And voters who selected a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in 2022 were 43 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say the elections around the country that year were run well.
Most voters are confident in the accuracy of this year’s vote counts
Large majorities of voters express confidence that both votes cast in person at polling places and those cast by absentee or mail-in ballot were counted as voters intended this year.
Confidence in count of votes cast in person
Nine-in-ten voters say they are at least somewhat confident that votes cast in person were counted accurately, including 45% who say they are very confident.
More than nine-in-ten Trump voters (94%) say they are confident in-person ballots were counted accurately, including 41% who say they are very confident of this. Trump voters this year are 30 points more likely to say they are confident that in-person ballots were counted accurately than Trump voters were in 2020.
A large majority of Harris voters (86%) also say they are confident in the vote count for in-person ballots, including 49% who are very confident. The share of Harris voters expressing confidence in the in-person vote count is lower than the 98% of Biden voters who said this when he won in 2020.
Confidence in count of votes cast by absentee or mail-in ballot
Voters today are more confident than they were four years ago that absentee and mail-in ballots were counted as voters intended. This is the result of a substantial increase in confidence in absentee vote counts among Republican candidate voters.
Overall, 75% of voters say they are very (28%) or somewhat (47%) confident that absentee or mail-in ballots were counted accurately this year, compared with 59% who said this after the last presidential election.
Today, 72% of Trump voters say they are confident in the accuracy of mail-in ballot counts. In 2020, just 19% expressed confidence.
While Democratic candidate voters remain broadly confident in counts of votes cast using this method, they express lower levels of confidence than they did after the 2020 and 2022 elections. Today, 78% of Harris supporters are at least somewhat confident in the mail ballot count. Following Biden’s 2020 victory, 95% of his voters said they were confident.
Most voters are confident their own vote was counted accurately
Most voters (92%) say they are very (59%) or somewhat (33%) confident their own vote was accurately counted in this year’s presidential election. This reflects a modest uptick from the share who said this following the 2020 election (85%).
Trump voters (96%) are more likely than Harris voters (89%) to say they are at least somewhat confident their own vote was counted accurately.
Four years ago, Biden voters (97%) were more likely than Trump voters (72%) to say this.
Before-and-after views of election administration
Confidence that ineligible voters were prevented from casting a ballot
About two-thirds of voters (66%) now say they are very or somewhat confident that people who were not legally qualified to vote were prevented from casting a ballot. In an October preelection survey, a smaller majority of registered voters (59%) said they were confident unqualified voters would be prevented from voting.
Trump voters’ confidence that ineligible voters did not vote is much higher than it was before the election. Still, a majority continue to say they are not confident of this:
- Today, 45% of Trump voters say they are at least somewhat confident ineligible voters were prevented from voting, while 55% say they are not too or not at all confident of this.
- Before the election, just 30% Trump supporters said they were confident ineligible voters would be prevented from voting.
By contrast, an overwhelming share of Harris voters (88%) are confident that ineligible voters were prevented from voting. This is nearly identical to the share of Harris supporters (87%) who had confidence in this in October.
Confidence that all eligible voters were able to cast a ballot
The share of voters who say they are very or somewhat confident that all legally qualified voters who wanted to cast a ballot were able to do so is nearly identical to the share who predicted this in the preelection survey (91% now, 90% in October). Large majorities of both Trump voters (96%) and Harris voters (86%) express confidence in this, though Trump voters are more likely to do so.
Views of election administration and vote counts shift following the election
Overall, voters express more positive views on the administration of the 2024 election as well as the accuracy of in-person and mail-in vote counts than registered voters did in October. This increase is driven by shifting views among those who backed Trump.
In October, nine-in-ten Harris supporters expected elections across the U.S. to be run and administered very or somewhat well. Today, a smaller but still wide majority of Harris voters (84%) say this was the case.
Trump supporters, in contrast, were less positive ahead of the election: 57% of Trump supporters expected the elections across the country to be run well. Today, 93% of Trump voters say the elections across the country were well-run.
Similarly, confidence in the accuracy of both in-person and mail-in vote counts is modestly higher after the election, reflecting shifts among Trump backers:
- 94% of Trump voters are confident that votes cast in person were counted as voters intended. In October, 77% of Trump supporters had confidence this would happen.
- 72% of Trump supporters are confident that votes cast by absentee or mail-in ballot were counted as intended. In October, only about half as many Trump backers said they were confident this would be the case.
- Harris voters express somewhat lower levels of confidence that both types of ballots were counted accurately than her supporters did before the election. Still, wide majorities of Harris supporters continue to express confidence in these counts.
