WASHINGTON — A KING 5 exclusive Washington poll shows protecting democracy is one of the top election issues for voters going into the November election.
This survey was conducted last week in partnership with the Seattle Times and UW's Center for an Informed Public. This survey included 900 Washington adults and was conducted before a gunman opened fire on Former President Donald Trump.
The poll showed increasing concern over the state of democracy in the United States, when compared to a poll taken two years ago.
“I think that the objective indicators are that democracy is under a lot of strain in comparison to other eras,” said Andrew Siegel, a Constitutional Law Professor with Seattle U.
Behind cost of living, the second top election issue was protecting democracy.
“I think that one thing that the survey results indicate is people are stressed,” said Siegel. “People are anxious, people are nervous.”
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Nearly a third of Biden voters said protecting democracy was their top issue, while only 5% of Trump voters or those voting for other candidates put “protecting democracy” as their top issue.
“There's a party that may well win this election, that lost the last election and tried to steal the presidency, and convinced many of its voters that it cannot lose a fair election and has taken a variety of steps, and pledged to take a variety of steps, to change the way in which the electoral system works,” said Siegel.
When asked how they would characterize the current state of democracy, 43% of people said they felt it was “weakening and may collapse”, while only 11% characterized it as “strong and resilient.”
With this question, more Trump voters felt democracy was “weakening and may collapse.” Over half of Trump voters held this view, compared to 34% of Biden voters.
“You have an extraordinary level of political distrust across the political spectrum,” said Siegel. “You have significant political violence aimed at people all across the political spectrum.”
People were asked if they agree or disagree that the future of democracy is at stake in the 2024 presidential election. 51% of people polled said they agree that democracy is at stake and 27% somewhat agree.
“It's not alarmist to identify that, to worry about that, to answer these survey questions this way, and to organize around the assumption that this election has higher stakes,” said Siegel.
In these polling questions, results show women were more concerned than men when it comes to democracy. More women think democracy is at stake in the upcoming presidential election and more women feel democracy has “weakened and may collapse.”