Election Results Fair And Accurate, WI Patch Reader Survey Says

WISCONSIN —A majority of the 235 people who responded to Patch's non-scientific voting survey this week said they believe both state and national election results are fair and accurate, but readers had strong opinions whether they agreed or not.

The survey, which appeared in questionnaire form Thursday on Patch, is meant not to be a scientific poll but only to give a broad idea of public sentiment.

A majority of the respondents said they either voted early in-person or voted absentee by mail and either mailed in their ballot or dropped it off. Just 20.1 percent of respondents said they voted in-person on Election Day.

Among those who voted by mail, a majority said they dropped off their ballot in person.

SEE ALSO: Patch Survey: Majority Trust The 2020 Election Results

Still, though the majority did drop off their ballots, it apparently wasn't over a lack of confidence in the system. Some 56.5 percent of respondents strongly agreed that voting by mail is safe, reliable and generally free of fraud.

For those who mailed in their ballots, 37.2 percent said they felt more confident about voting by mail and 54.7 percent of respondents said their confidence level was unchanged.

"I feel like we should move forward with mostly mail in ballots," one person wrote. "Those that enjoy going to the polls should keep that option. Ballots should remain immortalized in paper. Not switched to internet voting. If we stay with primarily voting at polls, then it should be a national holiday to make it fit better into people's busy lives."

One respondent said they felt voting by mail is more secure.

"Voting by mail is so easy and I very much prefer it," the person wrote. "To me it seems more secure than relying on the old people that typically work the polls in the past. They never seemed like they were thoroughly checking your ID and matching it with your address."

One respondent said they knew there was going to be trouble when they heard about mail-in ballots. The person said they were upset they received so many applications to vote by mail.

"I trust those in positions of power over the elections to do the right things to ensure that our votes are all counted properly," another person wrote. "Thanks to those volunteers for their service."

One person said they had to register again after apparently having been lost in the system as a registered voter despite living at the same house.

A number of respondents also wrote that they felt mail-in ballots opened the door to potential fraud.

"The experience of voting itself for me was very easy and stress free," one respondent said. "I strong feel that the mail-in voting should not be allowed as it is untrustworthy."

Another person thanked election officials across the country:

"My hat is off to the state's, in fact the nation's, poll-workers and election officials. The manner in which they buckled down and got this job done as well as they did under conditions like these should be a source of pride for all Americans."

And yet another respondent had just one unfavorable thing to say about mail-in voting.

"Absentee voting is the way to go— no lines, no waiting, no exposure to viruses," the person wrote. "Glad we did it this way, although you miss the pride of sticking your ballot in the machine and getting that “I voted” sticker."

Take a look at some of the other results of our survey below: