Who Are the Election Skeptics? Evidence from the 2022 Midterm Elections

Faith in American elections is eroding, with politicians frequently questioning the legitimacy of election results and spreading misinformation about voter fraud. Substantial work has been done to refute misinformation and increase confidence in elections, but often without a clear picture of who skeptics are and why they are skeptical. Using a nationally representative survey from around the 2022 midterm election ( N = 5,244) and beyond ( N = 77,325), we provide a comprehensive profile of election skeptics: their prevalence, views, and justifications. Our use of quantitative and qualitative data reveals a more milquetoast portrait of skeptics. Skeptics are demographically closer to the broader electorate than not, and the self-reported underpinnings of skepticism are more mundane than conspiratorial. Over half of skeptics claim they are skeptical because of how elections are run and nearly one-in-five skeptics claim they are skeptical because of the other party’s performance in recent elections, which we corroborate through an event study of the 2022 election.