Share of voters planning to vote by mail is lower than in recent years, particularly among Democratic voters
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 20, 2026) – American voters are generally confident the upcoming midterm elections will be run and administered well, that election workers will handle ballots securely, and say the outcome will be clear after all ballots are counted according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The survey, conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, 2026, among 5,062 adults, including 3,917 registered voters on the Center’s American Trends Panel, finds that voters who back both Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress this year share these views.
But there continue to be wide partisan differences in perceptions of both how secure elections are against noncitizens casting ballots and whether eligible citizens who want to vote are able to do so. About two-thirds of voters are at least somewhat confident that anyone ineligible to vote will be prevented from casting a ballot, while eight-in-ten are at least somewhat confident that all qualified voters will be able to cast ballots if they want to.
There is broad bipartisan confidence that votes cast in person will be counted as voters intend. But Democratic voters are more confident than Republican voters that mail-in ballots will be counted as voters intend (64% vs 42%).
Democratic voters’ confidence in an accurate count of mail ballots is lower than it has been in recent elections: 64% of Democratic voters say they are confident mail and absentee votes will be counted as voters intend – down from 88% in the 2022 midterm elections and 85% among Kamala Harris’ voters in the 2024 presidential election.
Note: This survey was conducted prior to the Justice Department suing California on Oct. 15 to stop the state from counting ballots mailed to individuals who the Trump administration alleges are noncitizens.
Other key findings include:
Two-thirds of voters are confident that people who attempt to intimidate voters at polling places will be stopped, though supporters of Republican candidates for Congress are more confident about this than those who back Democrats.
Democratic voters continue to be more likely than Republican backers to plan to vote by mail or absentee ballot, though the share of Democratic voters who plan to vote this way is lower than in recent elections.
Roughly half of voters (52%) are confident that U.S. election systems are free from hacking and other technological threats.
The margin of sampling error for the sample of 3,917 registered voters is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.
Read the full report: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/10/20/broad-public-confidence-in-elections-in-the-u-s-but-partisans-differ-over-concerns-about-access-security/
Methodology: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/10/20/election-confidence-methodology/
Survey Topline: https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/PP_2026.10.20_election-confidence_topline.pdf
For more information about the study or to arrange an interview with the lead researchers, please contact Nida Asheer at nasheer@pewresearch.org.
