Public concerned about election integrity and post-election protests

• Just 36% of Americans believe the 2024 elections will be both honest and open to rightful voters, while 44% have serious doubts about honesty or openness or both, findings that are almost identical to 2023.
• Four out of 10 Americans (41%) believe there will be violent protests no matter who wins, and nearly half (49%) expect violence if Trump loses.
• Democrats are particularly worried about violence after a Trump loss — 57% expect violence and 37% believe it will be significant.
• Whether violence erupts or not, most Americans expect post-election protests – 62% if Trump wins and 64% if Harris wins.

Americans most worried about disinformation from candidates

• More than two-thirds of Americans (68%) believe disinformation will affect the outcome of the elections compared with 63% last year.
• Republican candidates are considered the most likely source of disinformation at 40%, up from 32% when the question was asked in 2023. The news media is in second place at 36%, followed by Democratic candidates at 32%.
• Social media, which was considered the most likely source of disinformation in 2023 at 42%, fell significantly this year to 27%.

Democrats are winning political information wars

• Americans were asked to rate 11 different sources of political news and information. As in past years, the highest-rated source is friends and family, with a trust level of 67%.
• The second most trustworthy source of political news is the Democratic Party with a 42% trust level, surpassing the news media at 40%.
• The Republican Party and social media each have a trust level of 35%.

Is the Republican Party still the “Party of Business”?

• 57% of Americans consider the Republican Party to be more pro-business than the Democratic Party.
• But Democrats often have more positive views about companies — 61% believe companies are doing a good job providing useful products and services compared to 54% of Republicans, and 62% of Democrats believe companies should be very involved in advocating for social issues compared to 44% of Republicans.
• Republicans have more distrust in major industries. The pharmaceutical industry is considered less trustworthy than other industries by 49% of Republicans compared to 41% of Democrats. Forty-three percent (43%) of Republicans consider health insurance companies less trustworthy, compared to 38% of Democrats. When it comes to the technology industry, 37% of Republicans consider them less trustworthy and only 27% of Democrats agree with that assessment — a difference of 10 percentage points.
• However, many Republicans are instinctively anti-regulation. Just 24% of Republicans believe government regulation of business is necessary to protect the public interest compared to 49% of Democrats.

“Americans are worried about the honesty and openness of the elections and that violence will break out once the votes are counted,” said Public Affairs Council President Doug Pinkham. “Given these concerns and the general lack of trust, we shouldn’t be too surprised that political candidates are considered to be among the top sources of disinformation in the country.”

Visit our website to view the full Public Affairs Pulse Survey results: pac.org/pulse

Survey Methodology: This poll was conducted between September 1-3, 2024, among a sample of 2,205 adults. The interviews were conducted online, and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on gender, educational attainment, age, race, and region. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

About the Public Affairs Council

Both nonpartisan and nonpolitical, the Public Affairs Council is the leading global association for public affairs professionals. The Council’s mission is to advance the field of public affairs and to provide its 700 member companies, nonprofits and universities with the executive education and expertise they need while maintaining the highest ethical standards. Learn more at pac.org.