ELON -- Following a Congressional race marked by allegations of misconduct and criminal charges, half of North Carolina voters say election fraud is a “major problem” in the state, the Elon University Poll has found.  The survey was conducted shortly after the N.C. Board of Election’s Feb. 21 decision to order a new election in the 9th Congressional District. That ruling came after days of testimony outlining allegations that a GOP operative now facing criminal charges had tampered with absentee ballots. Republican Mark Harris, who had apparently won the election over Democrat Dan McCready by a narrow margin, now says he will not run in the new election. Against this backdrop, about one in five N.C. voters say they are “not at all confident” future elections will be fair, the poll found. 

“Now months out from the tainted 9th District election, North Carolina voters are broadly skeptical of elections in the state,” said Jason Husser, director of the Elon Poll and associate professor of political science. “A majority of the electorate has clear concerns about the fairness of future elections and the extent of fraud.”

The 9th District race is the only unresolved Congressional race from the Nov. 6 election, with the outcome gaining national interest following the discovery of voting irregularities. Testimony before the N.C. State Board of Elections generated coverage from local, state and national outlets. 

Amid the widespread coverage, the survey found that nearly 60 percent of N.C. voters followed the coverage “somewhat closely” or “very closely,” with those who followed the controversial election “very closely” much more likely to say that election fraud is a “major problem.” Asked whether Harris should run in the new election, 60 percent said he should not, while 23 percent said he should run again, the poll found. 

The survey of 943 N.C. voters was conducted Feb. 24-27, 2019, with respondents contacted by email. For this survey, the Elon Poll used an online opt-in sample, with respondents receiving small amounts of compensation in exchange for their opinions. The survey has a credibility interval of +/- 3.4 percent. Different from the margin of error, the credibility interval is used to measure the accuracy of nonprobability surveys such as an opt-in online polls