More than 40 percent of voters in the United States are worried about threats of violence or voter intimidation at polling stations during the midterm elections in early November

Washington, October 27 (RHC)-- More than 40 percent of voters in the United States are worried about threats of violence or voter intimidation at polling stations during the midterm elections in early November, a survey says.  The Reuters/Ipsos poll, completed this week, found 43 percent of respondents were concerned about threats of violence or voter intimidation while voting in person.

The poll found fear was more pronounced among Democratic voters, 51 percent of whom said they worried about violence, although a still-significant share of Republicans – 38 percent – harbored the same concerns.  Two-thirds of registered voters fear extremists will carry out acts of violence after the elections if they are unhappy with the outcome.

Officials in Arizona, a key battleground, have already asked the federal government to probe a case of possible voter intimidation.  An official complaint said the self-appointed monitors called the voters "mules," a reference to a theory popularized by supporters of Donald Trump’s claim that his 2020 defeat was the result of widespread fraud.

Two-thirds of Republicans think the 2020 presidential election was stolen from then President Trump. Election officials are facing a growing barrage of claims that the outcome of presidential election, which saw Democratic candidate Joe Biden the winner, needs to be revisited.

Concerns of violence ahead of the November 8 elections come as Republicans are favored to win control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate. Losing control of one or both houses of Congress will profoundly shape the next two years of Joe Biden's presidency.

The findings illustrate growing evidence of a lack of trust in the country’s democratic institutions, following decades of deepening partisanship.  U.S. election officials say the campaign against the vote is exhausting and troubling as they launch preparations for the midterm elections.

Trump has repeatedly claimed his election loss to Biden was the result of widespread fraud. Allegations that provoked a mob of his supporters to storm the Capitol as Congress was meeting to certify Biden's election victory on January 6, 2021.  The attack resulted in the deaths of at least five people, including a police officer who was guarding the Congress building.