NC voters confident in election process, but many have concerns over fraud, poll says

Kyle Ingram, The News & Observer (Raleigh) on Aug 12, 2026

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RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina voters broadly express confidence in the fairness of the election process, but sizable minorities still believe voter fraud and foreign influence could be major problems, according to a new poll released on Wednesday by Elon University.

Elon’s poll, which surveyed 800 registered voters last month, found that 63% of respondents were either “very” or “somewhat” confident that the upcoming election would be fair. Conversely, 29% of respondents said they were “only a little” or “not at all” confident that the process would be fair.

The polled voters also displayed enthusiasm for the election, with 63% saying they were “absolutely certain” they would vote and another 20% saying it was “very likely” that they would do so.

However, over a third of respondents expressed significant concerns about voter fraud and foreign interference in the upcoming election.

While 37% of the surveyed voters agreed that fraud was a “major problem,” 30% said it was minor and 24% said it was “not a problem at all.”

Numerous studies, both nationally and in North Carolina, have found voter fraud to be exceedingly rare.

As for interference by foreign governments, 39% of respondents said it was a major problem, while 35% said it was minor and 10% said it was not a problem.

The results come amid a tumultuous election environment.

President Donald Trump continues to promote unfounded accusations of mass voter fraud and noncitizen voting, and his administration has sought to restrict mail-in voting via an executive order. Over 20 states, including North Carolina, have sued the administration over the order, which has since been blocked by a federal judge.

As for North Carolina, election officials are recovering from a series of controversies involving former GOP operative Dallas Woodhouse, who was hired into a new role as elections liaison for the State Auditor’s Office last year.

Leaked texts showed Woodhouse encouraging county election board members (who are appointed by State Auditor Dave Boliek) to drop Sunday voting and on-campus polling sites. Woodhouse has since resigned and said he is confident that the state will offer more voting opportunities this year than in the last midterm election.

The State Board of Elections will meet later this month to determine early voting plans for the 20 counties which failed to reach a unanimous agreement on the matter. Most disputes revolved around Sunday voting.

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