CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A newly released poll from AP-NORC shows many voters are worried about post-election violence.
Around 76% of voters said they are “at least somewhat worried” about violence aimed at overturning the election results. Another 42% of the respondents expressed graver concerns.
Some of these anxieties date to the 2020 presidential race, when a crowd of protesters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to stop the electoral vote count.
Amy Sentementes is an assistant professor of political science at Queens University of Charlotte, teaching courses in American politics and political psychology.
Sentementes says some of the election tension people are feeling may stem from deep partisan divisions.
“We know from political psychology that we’ve become more polarized both on the issues and then in our interpersonal relationships,” Sentementes said. “I think the tensions are really high, because our partisan identities right now are at the forefront of our minds.”
“Leading up to the election, [some] people are thinking not as individuals but as members of these teams, the Democrats and the Republicans. When we’re online or interacting with others, we make judgments about people,” she said. “I think people are worried the tensions are going to get so high that something after the election will happen, and it’s going to allow those tensions to produce a very negative outcome in our political environment.”
Sentementes is advising people to think about whether their response to the election results will hurt or help our nation.
“We are so loyal to our respective partisan groups. Someone is going to win, and someone is going to lose. On Election Day, some people will be really, really happy. Other people will be really, really sad,” Sentementes said. “We can have civilized conversations with people who don’t share our views, but it has to be in the right context, approaching them in a meaningful way. But if we are really excited about our side, it might be helpful for us to wait until tensions subside a little bit after the election, to start talking to people about the results.
“When tensions are high and perhaps our candidate wins, we want to make a post online and share with out friends that we’re so excited about our candidate winning, but we don’t really think very deliberately during these situations,” she said. “But if we let time pass we’re likely to approach these conversations in a more civilized manner, where we acknowledge some people are upset with the results.”
“We’re talking to people who we will develop relationships with that persist after the election season is over,” she said. “These conversations that we have may be appealing right now but it might be helpful for our interpersonal relationships to have these conversations later. In-person may be better than online.”
Whether your candidate wins or loses, Sentementes says accepting the results doesn’t mean you’re letting go of your beliefs.
“Having the principle that these people will be up for up reelection again can help us hold them accountable,” Sentementes said. “We can contact our representatives once they are elected to office. There are ways we can protest and make sure they know what our interests are and ideally, we have a system where our interests should be translated into public policies. When that’s not the case we have a means of holding them accountable in November. There’s always an opportunity for Americans to express their opinions and hold their elected officials accountable at the ballot box. That’s something we need to preserve and maintain over time. And while it’s hard — that involves accepting these outcomes no matter who wins or looses.”
The AP-NORC poll also found many voters are concerned about the impact both presidential candidates will have on our country, which appeared to boil down to party lines.
Democrats expected positive outcomes under Kamala Harris’ leadership. Republicans expressed the same belief under Donald Trump.
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