Elections are the primary mechanism by which citizens regulate conflict in democratic societies and, ultimately, allow for peaceful alternation of power. However, the ability for voters to accept the outcome of an election as legitimate hinges on whether they believe that the electoral rules are fair. The widespread accusations of electoral fraud and other forms of corruption made by both Trump and his supporters during the 2016 campaign have clearly impacted perceptions of electoral integrity.
Moreover, the fact that a candidate can win more votes in an election but lose a seat due to an electoral threshold or other rules has been shown to reduce support for democracy among voters who supported the losing party (Anderson, Blais and Hogstrom 2018; Sinclair, Smith and Tucker 2018). In the case of President Trump, the bombastic campaign style and outlandish statements were also likely to have influenced perceptions of electoral integrity.
In addition, the delay in announcing the results of the 2000 election—and subsequent legal challenges to the popular vote winner Al Gore’s defeat—also might have played an important role in dampening Americans’ confidence in the fairness of the electoral process. It should be noted, however, that the statistically significant gap between unexpected winners and expected losers on satisfaction with democracy and perceived electoral integrity was present in both presidential elections studied in this article.
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