Poll shows Wisconsin voter confidence remains shaky ahead of 2026

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A new poll by the Democracy Defense Project shows voter confidence in Wisconsin’s election system has returned to pre-2024 levels. The survey asked 600 likely Wisconsin voters about the state’s voting process and found distrust remains highest among Republicans.

A representative with the group says changing some state election laws could help restore confidence.

The Democracy Defense Project is a bipartisan group working in swing states to counter false claims about elections. Its latest survey found 31% of Wisconsin voters are not confident the 2026 elections will be run accurately, including 54% of republicans polled.

“If you went to bed at 10 o’clock at night, you thought Donald Trump had won and when you got up at 6 in the morning, Joe Biden had won Wisconsin, so what gives,” Scott Klug, the co-chair of the Democracy Defense Project said.

Former Republican Congressman Klug is referring to the 2020 election, when questions surrounding election integrity began. He says the reason it takes so long for ballots to be counted in Wisconsin is because they can’t start counting until the polls are closed. A policy he and those surveyed think should change.

“Both republicans and democrats have fought this reform which is actually crazy,” Klug said.  “If you look at the polling we have done, 70% of Wisconsin residents approve of it, so this is an easy thing the Wisconsin legislature could do.”

Klug says mail-in ballot drop boxes have also raised concerns among voters worried about election integrity. According to the survey nearly 80% of respondents supported the creation of a statewide standard set of rules regarding the issue of drop boxes.

“We need to figure out uniform standards that say where they go in front of a police department, in front of a fire department, they should be monitored 24 hours a day and there have to be procedures in place so that everyone of them is counted in a routine fashion so Wisconsin got two big problems we have to solve,” Klug said.

The organization also encourages people with concerns about election security to volunteer as poll workers. Klug says serving at the polls can give voters firsthand experience with how the system works. To read the survey click here.