Poll: Large majority of Americans concerned about election security

A wide majority of Americans are concerned about election security in the United States ahead of next month’s midterm elections, according to a new poll.

Almost eight in 10 Americans are at least somewhat concerned about the potential hacking of the nation’s voting systems, according to a University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey published Wednesday. 

{mosads}The poll also found that 45 percent of respondents said they are extremely or very concerned about the potential of hacking. Only 20 percent said they are not too concerned or not at all concerned about hacking. 

In a separate question, 22 percent of respondents said they had only a little confidence or no confidence at all that the votes would be counted accurately in the 2018 midterms. 

Democrats have become increasingly concerned about election security since 2016, when Russian intelligence officers are alleged to have hacked the Democratic National Committee (DNC). 

According to the survey, 58 percent of Democrats said they are very concerned about hackers affecting the election, compared to 39 percent of Republicans. Before the 2016 election, Republicans were more concerned about hacking, according to AP-NORC.

U.S. intelligence agencies have said that Russia worked to interfere in the 2016 election by attacking the DNC, hacking voting systems and launching social media campaigns. 

Intelligence agencies have warned that foreign actors are now making efforts to interfere in the midterm contests. Facebook, Google and Twitter recently shut down hundreds of accounts believed to be tied to influence campaigns backed by Iran and Russia.

The results of the poll published Wednesday were based on interviews of 1,059 adults from Sept. 13-16. The poll has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.