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December 22, 2021

A year later, a large majority of Republican voters still refuses to acknowledge that President Biden won the 2020 election, which doesnt bode well for US democracy. The most recent Bright Line Watch survey finds that just 27 percent of Republicans believe Biden is the rightful presidential winner, compared to 94 percent of Democrats.

Bright Line Watch, a nonpartisan watchdog group of leading political scientists who monitor US democratic practices, was cofounded byGretchen Helmke, a professor of political science at theUniversity of Rochester, and her colleagues at theUniversity of ChicagoandDartmouth College.The watchdog group started regular surveys about the health of US democracy in February 2017.

For a democracy to survive, parties must be willing to lose elections and politicians must be willing to acknowledge when they have lost, warns Helmke. The fact that the Republican Party is unwilling to acknowledge the 2020 loss fundamentally undermines the most basic principle of our democracy.

The groups latest survey finds that voters confidence in next years midterm elections has already been affected: only 62 percent of Americans said they were very or somewhat confident that votes nationwide would be counted correctly. Divisions along partisan lines have notably deepened. While 80 percent of Democrats generally expressed confidence in fair elections, only 42 percent of Republicans felt that way.

Originally cofounded by the University of RochestersGretchen Helmke and three other political scientistsBrendan NyhanandJohn Careyof Dartmouth College, andSusan Stokesof the University of ChicagoBright Line Watch is a nonpartisan initiative that conducts regular surveys designed to gauge the overall stability and performance of American democracy.Mitchell Sanders97 (PhD), of Rochester-based Meliora Research, is the groups director of survey research.

Tags: Arts and Sciences, Bright Line Watch, Department of Political Science, featured-post, Gretchen Helmke, research finding

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One year on, Republicans still don't consider Biden the rightful winner - University of Rochester