When Virginians made their way to the polls in November 2021 to choose their next governor, they did so following a campaign that had been as partisan and polarized as ever. With Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin essentially tied in the polls, the candidates spent the final days of the race hoping to mobilize their respective bases with pitched partisan appeals. Despite the partisan discord, the results of our statewide survey of registered voters in Virginia suggest that Democrats and Republicans actually agreed on something: They had overwhelmingly positive Election Day experiences. Unfortunately, as the data we present in the pages that follow illustrate, those personal experiences were limited in shaping overall confidence in elections and the state of democracy. 

The results we report in the pages that follow are based on responses from people who completed both the pre- and post-election surveys. (See Appendix A for the sample’s demographic information and Appendix B for frequencies.)

Instead, national narratives played a significant role in shaping voters’ attitudes about the 2021 elections, as did the outcome of the governor’s race.

More specifically: 

1. As voters readied to cast their ballots in 2021, the overwhelming majority of Democrats were “confident” or “very confident” that votes in Virginia would be counted as voters intended. In contrast, a majority of Virginia Republicans were “not confident” that U.S. elections reflect the will of the people.
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2. Most voters – Democrats and Republicans alike – reported very positive voting experiences in 2020, so the partisan gap in confidence was not fueled by firsthand accounts of election fraud or problems casting a ballot.
3. Instead, allegations of election fraud and rigged elections by national Republicans, which featured prominently in the Virginia governor’s race, resonated with Republican voters.

The results we report in the pages that follow are based on responses from people who completed both the pre- and post-election surveys. (See Appendix A for the sample’s demographic information and Appendix B for frequencies.)

We conducted two online surveys of registered voters in Virginia. In the pre-election survey, we interviewed a sample of 1,206 registered voters between October 21 and November 1, 2021. Following the election, we completed re-interviews with 796 of these respondents (from November 3 – November 18). More than 90% of the post-election surveys were completed within the first week after Election Day. We administered both surveys via the Qualtrics survey platform, with a sample provided by Dynata. The results we report in the pages that follow are based on responses from people who completed both the pre- and post-election surveys. (See Appendix A for the sample’s demographic information and Appendix B for frequencies.)

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We conducted two online surveys of registered voters in Virginia. 
—Testing Attribution

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