Republican Voters Trust Local Election Officials, Support Key Reforms to Strengthen Elections and Voter Access
Despite common narratives about Republicans’ views on election integrity, recent polling shows GOP voters are unified in their support for local election officials and reforms that strengthen nonpartisan election administration and voter access.
The following memo analyzes polling data of self-identified Republican voters on voting and election issues from key states conducted in 2022 and 2023 by Secure Democracy USA and Secure Democracy Foundation.
Republican Voters Are Unified in Their Trust of Local Election Officials
A strong majority of Republican voters trust local election officials to carry out their duties.
In Arizona, 71% of GOP voters want the election outcome to be determined by local election officials counting the votes and state officials declaring the winner based on those vote counts. Only 11% believe the state legislature should be able to override the final vote count.
In Florida, 73% of GOP voters find their local Supervisor of Elections trustworthy. Likewise, in Texas, 57% of GOP voters trust their county officials to conduct elections. In Wisconsin, 65% of GOP voters trust local election officials to ensure fairness and accuracy in election results.
In Michigan, when asked to rate who they have the most confidence in to manage an election fairly, Republican voters gave the highest scores to their local clerks and local poll workers.
Republican Voters Support Nonpartisan Election Administration Processes
Decisive majorities of Republicans support processes that adhere to best practices and ensure nonpartisanship when it comes to administering elections.
In Arizona, for example, 89% of Republican voters agree election audits should be conducted only by experienced, nonpartisan professionals. Sixty-three percent of Arizona Republicans believe the 2021 Cyber Ninjas election review in Maricopa County was costly and embarrassing for the state. Additionally, 73% of Arizona Republicans believe allowing secure tabulation equipment provides a quicker and more accurate result than a hand count. Two-thirds of GOP voters in the Grand Canyon State (67%) also believe only state or local officials should be allowed to inspect your ballot – not members of the public. These results are notable given the issues of election audits, hand counts, and ballot inspection have been subjects of disinformation in Arizona.
Last year also saw growing disinformation around the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonpartisan multi-state program designed to help states keep their voter rolls up-to-date. However, Republican voters overwhelmingly support their state remaining in or joining ERIC. In Arizona, 60% of Republican voters want the state to remain in ERIC. Similarly, in Georgia, 74% of GOP support the state continuing its ERIC membership. Before Texas announced plans to leave ERIC last year, 83% of Lone Star state Republican voters voiced support for staying in the program. Finally, in New Hampshire, 63% of GOP voters want the state to join ERIC.
Republicans Voters Support In-Person Early Voting Opportunities
Republican voters support proposals that expand access to cast their ballot early. In Texas, 74% of GOP voters support having the opportunity to vote early the weekend before Election Day and 62% support extending early voting an entire week before the election. Similarly, in Florida, 85% of GOP voters said it is important Florida voters have multiple options to cast their vote, 63% support having at least 10 days of early voting, and 57% support an extra weekend of early voting. In Mississippi, 65% of Republicans support the state offering in-person early voting. Finally, in Michigan, roughly half of Republican voters (50%) support allowing seven days of Election Days-style early voting hours.
Republican Voters Support Policies to Strengthen Voting by Mail
Despite the rhetoric around voting by mail, GOP voters are supportive of policies to improve access to mail voting and ensure mail ballots are counted. In Florida, 70% of GOP voters support the ability of voters to sign up to automatically receive a mail ballot for all elections in a two-year cycle. In Arizona, 66% Republicans believe mail ballots returned or postmarked by Election Day should be counted.
Republican voters also believe voters should be notified and able to fix common mistakes, such as a missing signature, on mail ballots. Among Republican voters, this policy has 50% support in Arizona, 68% in Florida, 59% in New Hampshire, and 73% in Wisconsin.
Republicans are also in favor of having secure drop boxes to return their mail ballots. Fifty-four percent of Arizona GOP voters support the continued use of secure and convenient drop box locations to drop off early voting ballots, 24 hours per day. Likewise, in Florida, 85% of Republicans support Florida voters being able to return their ballots at secure ballot intake stations.
Republican Voters Support Voting Rights Restoration
The majority of Republican voters in key states are united in supporting the restoration of voting eligibility to citizens with prior felony convictions. Fifty-five percent of Arizona Republicans and 58% of Wisconsin Republicans believe that people with a past felony conviction should have their voting eligibility automatically restored once they are released from prison and have returned to their communities. In Mississippi, 73% of Republicans support restoring voting eligibility to someone with a past felony conviction who is no longer incarcerated and is living, working, and paying taxes in their community. Similarly, more than half (51%) of Florida Republicans support allowing citizens with prior felony convictions to regain their eligibility to vote when they are no longer incarcerated.
Secure Democracy Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that produces research and analysis focused on voting and elections. We work to educate the public on how our election systems are secure and trustworthy.
Secure Democracy USA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization that works to build confidence in our elections and improve voter access across the United States. We educate policymakers and the public about what it takes to safeguard our voting systems. We use sophisticated survey and messaging research to inform our strategy and we collaborate with state leaders, election administrators, policy experts, and allies to ensure that all eligible citizens have the freedom to vote how they choose.