Poll: Half of Republicans say Russia tried to influence election

Half of Republican voters think Russia attempted to influence last year’s presidential election.

A new Quinnipiac University Poll found that 50 percent of Republicans think the Kremlin tried to influence the election, while 45 percent of GOP voters do not.

Overall, 73 percent of voters overall believe Russia tried to affect the election, while 22 percent do not. An overwhelming majority of Democrats, 94 percent, said they think Russia made attempts to influence the election. 

{mosads}A majority of voters who said Russia attempted to influence the campaign, 56 percent, also said they believe Russia’s efforts altered the outcome of the race.

Eighty-five percent of Republican voters who believe Russia did try to affect the campaign say Russia’s actions did not change the outcome. Seventy-six percent of Democrats who said Russia tried to affect the election say their efforts altered the race’s outcome.

The poll of 1,211 voters across the country was conducted from Dec. 6 to 11. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. 

The intelligence community in a declassified report released in January concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an influence campaign aimed at helping Trump win the election. The report, however, noted that it did not assess the impact Russia’s efforts had on the race.

The results come as special counsel Robert Mueller continues his probe into Russia’s efforts to meddle in the United States election and any potential ties between Trump’s campaign staff and Moscow.

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn earlier this month pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, becoming the first former administration official to be taken down by the special counsel’s probe.

This report was updated on Dec. 19 at 9:34 pm.