In elections we trust? Gauging Americans’ faith in elections and consequences for political attitudes and behavior

This thesis examines how election denialism and voter confidence following the 2020 U.S. presidential election influenced attitudes and political behavior in the 2021 Senate runoff elections in Georgia. Building on prior research that links partisan responses to electoral defeat with a decreased trust in the electoral process, this study hypothesizes that the widespread promotion of election denialism by Republican leaders and media outlets undermined the confidence of Republican voters. In turn, is it the case that denialism and voter confidence influenced the likelihood of participation in the 2021 Georgia Senate runoffs, while shaping vote choice in these pivotal elections that decided which party would control Congress’ upper chamber? The empirical analysis, drawing on a large sample of registered Georgia voters in the AP VoteCast survey, reveals that participation was at best, minimally impacted by skepticism regarding the legitimacy of the 2020 election. Instead, denying the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election is strongly related to Republican voting in the 2021 Georgia Senate runoffs, whereas voter confidence has the opposite effect–higher voter confidence is associated with significant support for the Democratic Senate candidates. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on electoral legitimacy and democratic resilience, ultimately highlighting the importance of trust in the electoral process and how it manifests in political attitudes and voting behavior.