American voters are approaching the presidential election with deep unease about what could ensue, including the potential for political violence, attempts to overturn the election results and its broader implications for democracy, according to a new survey.

The findings of the survey, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, speak to lingering concerns about the fragility of the world’s oldest democracy, nearly four years after former President Donald Trump’s refusal Trump’s acceptance of the 2020 election results inspired a crowd. of his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol in a violent attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

About four in ten registered voters say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about violent attempts to overturn the results after the November election.

A similar share is concerned about legal efforts to achieve this. And about one in three voters say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about attempts by local or state election officials to prevent results from being finalized.

Relatively few voters – about a third or less – are “not very” or “not at all” concerned about any of this.

Trump has continued to lie about the fraud that cost him his re-election four years ago and is again predicting that he can only lose this time if the election is rigged against him, a strategy he has deployed since his first candidacy. His allies and the Republican National Committee, which he reshaped, have filed lawsuits across the country that could be a prelude to post-election legal challenges if he loses.

“I thought after January 6, 2021, the Republican Party would have the good sense to reject him as a candidate,” Aostara Kaye, of Downey, Calif., said of Trump. “And when they didn’t, I think it just encouraged him to think that he can do anything, and they’ll always stay with him.” Many voters believe Trump will not concede if he loses. Trump’s broad attempts to reject the will of voters and stay in power after his 2020 defeat have raised fears that he could concede again if he loses to Vice President Kamala Harris. .

Nearly 9 in 10 voters said the loser of the presidential election would be forced to concede once each state finishes counting its votes and legal challenges are resolved, including about 8 in 10 Republicans. But only one About a third of voters expect Trump to accept the results and concede if he loses.

Democrats and Republicans have sharply divergent views on the issue: About two-thirds of Republican voters think Trump would concede, compared to only about 1 in 10 Democrats.

The same concern does not apply to Harris. Nearly eight in 10 voters said Harris would accept the results and concede if she lost the election, including a solid majority of Republican voters.

Democrats and Republicans are divided over who would weaken democracy. Members of both parties are widely concerned about how American democracy will evolve based on the outcome of the November election.

Overall, about half of voters think Trump would weaken democracy in the United States “a lot” or “somewhat” if he won, while about four in ten thought the same of Harris.

It’s no surprise that Americans are deeply divided along ideological lines. About 8 in 10 Republicans said another Trump term would strengthen democracy “a lot” or “a little,” while a similar share of Democrats said the same about a Harris presidency.

About 9 in 10 voters in each party said the opposing party’s candidate would be likely to weaken democracy at least “somewhat” if elected.