People learned in 2016 that the polls aren’t always accurate — in part because many aren’t honest with pollsters.
The same trend is playing out ahead of the 2020 presidential election. A recent study found that Republican and independent voters are twice as likely as Democrats to conceal their true political opinions from pollsters. Nearly 11.7% of Republicans and 10.5% of independents said they wouldn’t reveal their preferred presidential candidate, while 5.4% of Democrats said they’d be reluctant to share who they plan to vote for, according to CloudResearch.
Additionally, the survey found that 10.1% of Trump supporters were “likely to be untruthful on phone surveys” when asked about who they would support. Only 5.1% of Biden supporters said the same.
When asked why they would rather keep their political preferences a secret or outright lie about them, some respondents cited a distrust of pollsters and a fear that their answers would not be kept confidential.
“I don’t believe the information would be confidential, and I think it’s dangerous to express an opinion outside of the current liberal viewpoint,” one respondent said, according to CloudResearch.
Another said, “Because most polls released to the public are slanted and aren’t scientifically based. So, they are messing with the results of the survey from the beginning by knocking down one party or the other. I’m just trying to right the ship.”
And yet another put it this way: “Well, I probably wouldn’t give my opinion period, but if pushed, I would not give my real opinion for fear of reprisal if someone found out.”
The last response sums up a fear that much of the public shares: the fear of cancel culture. Republicans and independents are hesitant to admit their support of Trump openly because there could be real and lasting consequences for doing so. They could lose friendships and/or opportunities and end up feeling ostracized. They could face accusations of racism, and their morals could be called into question.
This doesn’t always happen, but it’s happened enough that the reactions of friends and family have become a legitimate concern. As a result, many people try to keep politics out of their personal lives. Can you blame them?
