A growing number of Americans are now concerned Russians will interfere in the upcoming 2018 midterm elections, according to a new Marist University poll.
Forty-eight percent of adults surveyed believe it’s likely or very likely the Russians will try to play a hand in November’s elections, while 44 percent believe it’s not very likely or not likely at all that Russians will try to interfere.
Earlier this month, a majority of Americans were asked the same question and 53 percent believed that it’s not very likely or not likely at all that Russians will try to meddle in the upcoming election, while only 41 percent believed it’s likely they will.
Across party lines, the number of people who believe Russians will try to interfere is up significantly. Seventy percent of Democrats hold this view, up from 60 percent a few weeks ago, along with 51 percent of independent voters, up from 40 percent earlier this month, and 32 percent of Republicans believe there will be Russian interference, an increase from 17 percent.
Earlier this month, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said “Russia probably will be the most capable and aggressive source” of using cyberintelligence to push propaganda and influence U.S. elections. Coats made this prediction after revealing that foreign entities from Russia worked within the Untied States to influence the 2016 presidential election.
The Marist Poll surveyed 1,026 adults from February 20th through February 21st 2018 with a margin of error of +/- 3.6 percentage points.
