WISCONSIN – The Democracy Defense Project released a new poll following the April Spring Election to identify where reputational concerns remain regarding Wisconsin’s electoral process and where voter faith is increasing.
See the following statement from members of the Democracy Defense Project Wisconsin board, including former Attorney General JB Van Hollen, Former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, Former U.S. Representative Scott Klug and former Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate:
“Wisconsin elections are important as ever and we will continue to have all eyes on us as we head into another election cycle. Despite running a tight ship throughout the election season and faith in election integrity rising, Wisconsin still has a reputation problem. There has been an erosion of faith in our democracy with politicians undermining election integrity to bolster their campaign allowing false narratives about “stolen elections” to take root.
This poll shows we need to continue working to restore faith and trust in institutions currently under attack and we need a two-pronged approach to educate voters on the process to restore credibility and we need reforms like pre-processing to instill more confidence in the process. These together will bring meaningful change.”
One of the biggest takeaways from the poll was that faith and trust in areas of election integrity have increased, largely due to the efforts by DDP and others to successfully educate Wisconsin voters on the election process and restore credibility with election workers.
Other takeaways:
- Fifty-four percent (54%) of voters are “very confident” in the way the Wisconsin Supreme Court elections were conducted, a seven-point increase compared to those who said the same about the 2024 presidential election (47%).
- 48% of voters say they “don’t trust what will happen in Milwaukee County.” That increase in skepticism is up two percent (46%) from voters polled in July 2024.
- Those who believe election workers and officials are “important volunteers” went up 10 points from 2024 to 2025, with increases in support among Republicans (12%) and Independents (18%).
- Those who believe election workers and officials are “partisans trying to manipulate the process” went down 12 points.
- The number one issue people want to see fixed is the pre-processing of ballots on Monday to speed up the process of vote counting, with 76 percent of voters supporting this idea, and 40 percent strongly supporting the change.
- Another area where voters see room improvement in both process and faith is the standardization of drop box rules. Overall, 79 percent of voters favor standardized, statewide rules for drop boxes, with 51 percent strongly supporting the measures.
