Americans strongly support security measures for absentee ballot drop boxes, poll finds

Americans only have moderate trust in the midterm election results and overwhelmingly support strong security measures for drop boxes used to collect absentee and early ballots, according to recent polling.

The Rasmussen poll surveyed 1200 registered voters and was conducted Dec. 8-9. Of the 1200 registered voters that were interviewed, 76% said that drop boxes used to collect absentee and early voting ballots should be available only in places and times where they can be supervised and have video surveillance. 

When asked if they believed that votes were accurately counted for the midterm elections, 65% were somewhat or very confident, 8% weren't sure and 27% said they weren't very confident. 

There has been a lot of talk regarding election integrity, early voting, and the counting of ballots in the last two years due to issues in individual counties in different states. 

In Arizona's Maricopa County, there were several reported issues at different voting centers such as tabulators not working, people waiting in line for hours to vote and issues with ballot signatures. 

This resulted in GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake filing a lawsuit against the county and her Democrat opponent Secretary of state Katie Hobbs, arguing that the Maricopa County midterm election was riddled with equipment and procedural errors. The judge has dismissed the suit, but Lake's legal team has appealed it all the way to the state Supreme Court.

Orange County in Florida is another county that has seen whistleblowers file affidavits alleging unauthorized and potentially illegal election activity they claimed to witness.

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis created the Office of Election Crimes and Security last year to investigate election crimes, which has led to people coming forward about suspicious election activities. 

Former Orange County Commissioner candidate Cynthia Harris (D) filed a sworn affidavit in August with the Secretary of State's office where she alleged that illegal operations to collect third-party ballots have been going on for years in the Orlando area, where voting activists are paid $10 for each ballot they collect.

According to the Rasmussen survey, about 38% of the polled voters are somewhat or strongly opposed to more drop boxes in upcoming elections, while 53% said they support more drop boxes since it helps people cast their vote easier.

With the next presidential election approaching in 2024, 56% of voters said that if former President Donald Trump is the nominee and wins the election, current President Joe Biden should accept the results and not try to prevent him from taking office.