This is the first of two days that focus on Texans’ attitudes toward democracy through the 2019 Texas Lyceum Poll.
The poll found Russian influence on U.S. elections is a “major problem”.
Daron Shaw Ph.D., a Lyceum Alumnus and Government Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Joshua Blank Ph.D., research director at the Texas Politics Project, independently conducted the 2019 Texas Lyceum Poll as they have for the past 12 years.
"Republicans expressed significantly more trust in the state government's ability to secure the election system than the Democrats and they also though it was less of a problem. It doesn't mean that Republicans don't think it's a problem," said Blank.
The poll found money in politics and the news media were the greatest internal threats to democracy.
Shaw said 39 percent of Republicans thought Russian interference in the 2016 election was a problem.
"It is a weird world where Republicans are less concerned about than Russians than the Democrats are and I think it's purely a reflection of partisan context," said Shaw.
The poll found only 16 percent of Texas are “very confident” that Texas elections are safe from hacking and other technological threats.