The 2024 presidential election unfolded against a backdrop of sharp polarization and widespread concerns about the health of American democracy. To better understand voter experiences and attitudes, University of Virginia professors Jennifer L. Lawless and Paul Freedman, in partnership with UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, conducted a two-wave national survey before and after Election Day. The findings highlight both deep partisan divides and areas of common experience and shared opinions.

Republicans and Democrats entered the race with starkly different views of the 2020 election’s legitimacy, and those divides shaped their behavior in 2024. More than 90 percent of respondents reported voting, but Democrats favored voting by mail while Republicans leaned toward in-person ballots. Despite partisan differences, nearly all voters described positive voting experiences, citing short wait times, smooth procedures, and confidence in local administration.

Large majorities of Democrats and Republicans considered democracy a preferable form of government, even as concerns about its health remained high across the political spectrum. After Donald Trump’s victory, however, Republican worries eased significantly while Democrats’ concerns remained steady. Confidence in elections followed a similar trajectory: Republicans’ trust rose sharply, while Democrats’ declined slightly.

Trust in government and media revealed both overlap and division. Voters in both parties placed more confidence in state than federal government, though Democrats were still more likely than Republicans to express confidence in the federal government. Similarly, while trust in local news was stronger across the board, Democrats were 26 percent more likely than Republicans to trust national media. Even amid these divides, large majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents agreed on a core democratic norm: their party should accept election results if it loses. Yet Republicans were also more inclined than Democrats to support leaders who break the rules.

The survey found that Republicans and Democrats were about as likely to seek out political news as to come across it by chance with 49 percent saying they looked for it, while 51 percent encountered it incidentally. Social media was a primary news source, with high levels of use across platforms, yet trust in it was strikingly low. Roughly two-thirds of voters in both parties reported having little or no confidence in the news they consumed there.

On election reforms, Democrats strongly favored proposals such as automatic voter registration and all-mail elections, while Republicans largely opposed them. Still, broad areas of consensus emerged: strong majorities of both parties supported making Election Day a national holiday and automatically registering voters at their new address when they move. In addition, Republicans and independents strongly supported requiring all voters to present a government-issued photo ID at the polls.

Together, the findings reveal a democracy marked by deep partisan divides in trust, media consumption, and election reforms, yet also shaped by widely shared positive voting experiences, broad agreement on a key democratic norm on abiding by election results, and pockets of bipartisan support for strengthening the electoral system.