Survey: Most Likely Voters Say the Government Failed to Stop Election Cheating and Expect Widespread Cheating This Fall by Almost 2-to-1

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey of 1,094 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on August 10-12, 2026 finds that just 34% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the government has done enough in recent years to prevent election cheating, while 52% say it has not. Another 14% aren’t sure.

The partisan and educational divide is very large. While 45% of Democrats believe the government has done enough in recent years to prevent election cheating, only 25% of Republicans and 30% of unaffiliated voters agree. A plurality of liberals and those with a graduate school education also believe that the government has done enough to stop cheating in the elections.

A similar divide also exists for whether people expect cheating this fall, with likely voters expecting it by a 60%-to-32% margin. Seventy-three percent (73%) of Republicans expect widespread cheating to affect the outcome of this fall’s congressional elections, as do 50% of Democrats and 57% of unaffiliated voters.

Now even Democrats and those with a graduate school education expect widespread cheating this fall, and only liberals don’t (by a 52%-to-41% margin).