‘19% US citizens will not vote in upcoming mid-term elections’

WASHINGTON: Nearly one in five (around 19%) Americans “will not vote” or “have a high likelihood” of not voting in November’s mid-term elections, with concerns over outside actors compromising the country’s election voting systems the cause, according to the new 2018 Unisys Security Index.

The only recurring snapshot of security concerns conducted globally, the 2018 Unisys Security Index also shows that 18-to34-year-olds are the least likely to vote in the mid-terms, with more than one in four (26 percent) reporting that they “will not vote” or “have a high likelihood” of not voting.

Nearly nine in 10 respondents – 86 percent – express concerns over the prospect of U.S. election voting systems being compromised by outsiders, according to the survey.

Only about 40 percent of registered voters traditionally participate in the mid-term elections, according to FairVote, meaning security concerns could drive this total even lower, particularly among younger voters.

“The lack of trust in our voting election systems as exposed by the 2018 Unisys Security Index potentially undermines confidence in America’s democratic system,” said Tom Patterson, chief trust officer of Unisys.

“The U.S. needs to build on progress made in preparation for this mid-term election cycle, while factoring in that younger voters are the ones expressing the highest levels of concern over the integrity of the process. I am confident that our country will be able to address this dynamic.”