
A number of new polls have shown that a shocking number of Americans are concerned about the possibility of violence and civil war following the election.
To make matters worse, polling indicates that nearly half of registered voters don’t trust the legitimacy of the upcoming election.
Over Half Of Voters Think The Election Will Be Contested
The polls have outlined just how much of a powderkeg America currently is going into the presidential election next month.
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Braver Angels, an organization designed to “promote civility and healing between ‘reds and blues’,” commissioned a YouGov poll of voters.
The results are frightening.
The idea of putting your political enemies up before a political tribunal after they have lost an election (as opposed to, say, a civil war) is neither humane nor reasonable and to suggest otherwise is mind-boggling. https://t.co/z3GBdRa8u0
— Jeff B., who on earth is this guy?? (@EsotericCD) October 6, 2020
Nearly half (47%) of the 1,999 registered voters surveyed disagreed that the election “is likely to be fair and honest.”
Just over half (51%) think that Americans will not be able to agree on who is the legitimate winner of the election.
For the supporters of President Trump, the legitimacy worry is down to the possibility of voter fraud on a massive scale.
“We would be foolish to not at least accept that it’s a real thing that happens sometimes, and I just worry that it’s going to happen in a greater numbers this year,” said Bill Fry, a Marine veteran member of Braver Angels.
“And a lot of my friends think the same things.”
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While on the other hand, Biden supporters think that the President will refuse to concede after casting doubt on the election.
“Trump is already casting doubt on the legitimacy of vote by mail which tells me that he may try to dispute the result legally or by decree or who knows by what means,” said Matt Edelman, who backed Bernie Sanders in the Democrat primary.
“He’s a liar. He will promote baseless conspiracy theories if he feel it will benefit him politically.”
Once you accept that there is literally zero chance of either side in this US election conceding that the outcome is legitimate, it makes the whole thing much easier to process.
I mean it's going to kick off. It's just a question of how badly.
— Paul Fanning (@trivet1806) September 29, 2020
Huge Increase In Support For Violent Actions
The final question in the poll commissioned by Braver Angels is the most worrying.
Out of 1,503 respondents, 56% agreed that “America will see an increase in violence as a result of the election,” with only 11% disagreeing.
Earlier this year, researchers found a staggering number of Americans now see a far greater justification for political violence:
Among Americans who identify as Democrat or Republican, 1 in 3 now believe that violence could be justified to advance their parties’ political goals
Unbelievably, 61% of Americans believe the country is on the verge of another civil war.
All this comes as riots and unrest criss-cross the country, and gun sales continue to hit record highs.
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In August 2020, around 1.8 million guns were sold across the country, continuing the record high spikes in gun sales this year, with increases ranging from 71% to 145% compared to 2019.
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With all these factors at play, it is therefore no surprise why people may be predicting a second American civil war, or, at the very least, a huge spike in political violence following November’s election.