Election tensions rise as fear of post-vote riots looms
The United States is gearing up for the presidential elections scheduled for November 5. The contest outcome between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump is still uncertain. However, one in four Americans is concerned that riots may break out in the country after the results are announced.
The British newspaper The Times published a survey of pre-election social sentiments in the U.S. The findings, conducted by the international company YouGov on behalf of the newspaper, reveal that one-fourth of U.S. residents fear that after November 5, the country may experience a wave of unrest.
Interviewers reached American adults online, and respondents shared their electoral preferences.
Survey: One in four Americans fears riots after the elections
The survey shows that 30 percent of women and 24 percent of men participating believe that there may be an outbreak of violence following the presidential elections. Similarly, around the same percentage of supporters from the two main parties—28 percent of Kamala Harris supporters and 27 percent of Donald Trump supporters—consider riots a possibility to some extent.
Additionally, 12 percent of respondents stated that they know people who might take up arms and protest in the streets if they believe Trump was unfairly deprived of victory due to electoral fraud. Only 5 percent know someone willing to act similarly if the fraud involved Harris.
The question about firearm possession revealed that as many as 32 percent of Trump supporters and only 13 percent of Harris supporters are gun owners. A previous survey by the Pew Research Center indicated that guns are present in 40 percent of American households.
Moreover, 84 percent of voters believe that American society is more politically divided today than it was a decade ago. Only 5 percent think this division has decreased.
The discussion about potential riots amid current political tensions in the U.S. is tied to the actions of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Those involved in this attempt to seize one of the most important buildings for American democracy aimed to delay the official confirmation of Joe Biden's election victory.
