Wisconsin Survey Finds Slight Majority Don’t Think Voter Fraud Is Problem

The Wisconsin Public Radio-St. Norbert College survey shows a slight majority of people don’t think voter fraud is a serious problem.

Fraud was one of the reasons Republicans recently passed a photo ID law which is now being challenged in court.

A question on the survey asked if voter fraud is a serious problem in the state. Of the 401 respondents, 42 percent said it is a very or somewhat serious problem. 51 percent said it is a not too serious or not at all serious problem.

Wendy Scattergood, a political scientist and an associate at St. Norbert’s Strategic Research Institute, said the survey also asked if voting should be more or less restrictive, or if the current system should stay the same.

She said 53 percent said it should stay as it is: “But 30 percent think that it should be more restrictive, while 15 percent thought that it should be less restrictive.”

Scattergood said there are partisan divides when it comes to voting. Two-thirds of Democrats don’t think any changes are needed.

“Republicans are more likely to think that it’s a serious problem and also think that there should be more restrictions on it. Whereas, for example, 55 percent of Democrats think that voter fraud is not at all a serious problem,” she said.

A report released earlier this week by the Pew Charitable Trusts ranked Wisconsin in the nation’s top three states for how it administered the 2012 elections.