The American system of government so carefully crafted by our founders appears to be failing us, according to a growing number of people.
Nearly 40% of Americans say they have lost faith in democracy, a new poll shows.
The Axios-Momentive , released Wednesday, found that 47% of Republicans and 28% of Democrats say they no longer have faith, while 10% said they never had any faith and 49% said they still do.
A similar survey released Tuesday found that over 80% of Americans were worried about the future of democracy in the United States, including majorities in both major political parties.
Though Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say they have lost faith in democracy, they were also more likely to say that their faith depended on who was in office. The Axios survey comes a day before the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, where supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the building in an attempt to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory.
Despite the fact that no evidence has emerged to support Trump’s claims that the election was rigged, the survey found that just 55% of Americans believed that Biden won in 2020, down three points from a year ago. Additionally, 57% of respondents said that they believed an event similar to Jan. 6 is likely to happen in the next few years.
And while 58% said they support the Jan. 6 Select Committee investigating the riot, the narrow majority support was driven by near-90% support from Democrats, compared to just 32% of Republicans.
Democrats were also more likely to say that democracy is strong when more people vote, with 79% saying so compared to 46% of Republicans. Republicans, however, were over twice as likely to say as that it was more important that the “right people” voted, with 48% saying so, compared to 18% of Democrats.
But both parties support voter integrity, by and large.
A survey in August found that overwhelming percentages of Democrats and Republicans support requiring voters to present valid identification proving who they are before casting ballots.
“A poll released this week from the Honest Elections Project found 81 percent of voters surveyed support requiring every voter to show a photo ID to cast a ballot,” The Hill reported.
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“The poll found support for voter ID laws rose by 4 percentage points from March to July, and it increased by 13 percentage points among Black voters surveyed,” the outlet added.
Some congressional and state-level Democrats have said voter ID requirements are racist and bigoted and serve to disenfranchise mostly minority voters.
Still, nearly three-quarters (74%) of Democrats surveyed for the poll said they support voter ID and ensuring that voters have access to a free identification if they need one rather than do away with the requirement altogether.
“The poll was conducted by the Honest Elections Project, a nonpartisan group led by Jason Snead, who previously worked at the conservative Heritage Foundation. It surveyed 1,200 registered voters nationwide from July 8-17, and it has a margin of error of 3 percentage points,” The Hill noted.
The Daily Caller News Foundation contributed to this report.