Alexandria, VA – Today, Honest Elections Project released new polling demonstrating that a nationwide policy requiring ballots to be received by Election Day is extremely popular, and conversely, allowing ballots that are received after Election Day to be counted damages public trust in outcomes.
The poll comes as the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in Watson v. Republican National Committee on Monday, March 23rd, a case that will examine the legality of state policies that allow ballots that are postmarked prior to Election Day but are received by election officials after Election Day.
The results of the poll are as follows:

Americans Overwhelmingly Support Election Day Ballot Deadlines
  • 83% agree—and 57% strongly agree—that ballots should be received by Election Day, including:
    • Republicans: 93%
    • Independents: 83%
    • Democrats: 74%
  • 60% agree that mail-in ballots received after polls close on Election Day should not be counted, including:
    • Republicans: 80%
    • Independents: 59%
    • Democrats: 42%
Late Ballot Laws Endanger Public Trust in Elections
  • 78% say that requiring ballots to be received by election officials by the end of Election Day makes elections more secure, including:
    • Republicans: 90%
    • Independents: 77%
    • Democrats: 68%
  • 60% think that counting ballots received after polls close on Election Day makes it easier to cheat, including:
    • Republicans: 79%
    • Independents: 58%
    • Democrats: 44%
  • 59% would not trust the results of an election that counts ballots received after polls close on Election Day. Democrats are evenly split (45% agree vs 48% disagree), showing deep bipartisan distrust:
    • Republicans: 76%
    • Independents: 56%
    • Democrats: 45%
Jason Snead, Executive Director of Honest Elections Project, provided the following statement in reaction:

“Federal is clear: all ballots must be received by Election Day to be counted. Late ballot laws are illegal, unpopular, delay results, and sow distrust in outcomes. The Supreme Court has a prime opportunity to keep it easy to vote and make it harder to cheat by upholding the rule of law and ensuring that ‘Election Day’ means Election Day.”

A link to the polling memo can be found HERE.

Honest Elections Project filed a joint amicus brief in the case on February 17th, urging the Court to strike down laws that allow ballots that are received after Election Day to be counted, which can be found HERE.

Methodology
Survey conducted by CRC Research for Honest Elections Project. Online survey among 1,600 likely voters nationwide conducted March 12-17, 2026. Respondents were selected randomly from opt-in panel participants. Sampling controls were used to ensure that a proportional and representative number of respondents were interviewed from such demographic groups as age, gender, race, and geographic region. Gender breakdown: 48% men – 52% women. Party ID breakdown: 33% Republican, 34% Independent, 32% Democrat. ± 2.45% overall margin of error at the 95% confidence interval for overall survey. M.O.E.s for subgroups are larger.
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