Fewer than half of registered voters express high confidence that votes in the 2026 midterms will be counted accurately, according to an AP-NORC release published October 21. Confidence differs by party: 55% of registered Democrats report a great deal or quite a bit of confidence, compared with 38% of Republican voters.
What the survey found
Roughly seven in ten voters view AI-generated election misinformation as a major problem. Concern about misinformation and confidence in vote counting are separate measures; one should not be treated as a substitute for the other.
Caldwell context
This is a report about public attitudes, not an audit of election administration. A respondent’s confidence does not establish whether a ballot was counted correctly. Likewise, a partisan difference in confidence cannot, by itself, demonstrate a difference in the integrity of the count.
The useful distinction is between what people believe about the process and evidence about how the process operates. Readers should preserve that distinction when comparing this survey with election results or claims about voting procedures.
Who was surveyed
Interviews took place October 8–12, 2026, through NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, online and by telephone. The full sample included 1,119 adults; 925 reported being registered voters. The voter findings refer to that subgroup, rather than all adults. Consult the source documents for weighting, question wording and sampling uncertainty.