Minority of Europeans Think US Election Will Be Free, Fair: Poll

According to a YouGov tracker survey in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, in only one of these countries – Italy – are more than a tenth of voters confident that the American electoral process will prove irreproachable.

In the other six, support for the view that the 3 November elections will be “completely free and fair” ranges from 2% in Germany to 7% in Spain. In no country do more than 44% feel the vote will even be “completely or mostly” free and fair, The Guardian reported.

The survey, run between 15 September and 4 October with a representative sample of 1,000-plus people in each country, found Europeans overwhelmingly eager for a Biden victory, despite not rating him very highly or knowing much about him.

About 80% of Danes say they want the Democratic challenger to win, followed by 71% in Germany, 64% in France and 61% in the UK, while support across the same four countries for a Trump victory ranges from 6% to 14%.

The president enjoys the strongest level of support in Italy, but even there only 20% would like to see him returned for a second term, against 58% who want Biden to win.

European approval for Trump’s presidency so far is very low, with few rating him as either a “great” or even a “good” president – just 5% in Denmark, 10% in the UK and 15% in Italy. Large majorities feel he has been “poor” or “terrible” – 82% in Denmark, 70% in the UK and 61% in Italy.

Perceptions of Biden are generally muted across the continent, with the belief that the 77-year-old Democrat would make a “good” or “great” president shared by a low of 17% of respondents in the UK and a high of 23% in Germany and Sweden.

While very few feel Biden would make a “poor” or “terrible” president, far more – from 27% in France to 55% in Denmark – say they think he will be merely “average” or confess to not really having a clear idea of what he would be like. When asked how Biden would perform as president, between 21% and 45% answered “don’t know”.

However, when asked about a range of areas from international relations and climate change to the coronavirus, economics, terrorism and peace, respondents in every country think Biden would do a better job on every measure than Trump.

Respondents’ negative views of Trump extend to his impact on their own countries and on the world as a whole. Just 10% to 14% think he has had a positive impact on their country, while 52% to 69% feel his impact has been negative.

Across the seven countries, a low of 6% of Danes and high of 15% of Italians feel Trump has been good for the world, while a high of 84% of Danes and a low of 68% of Italians think the opposite. Between 27% (France) and 44% (Spain) even say Trump has had a negative impact on them personally.

Between 29% and 49% believe a Biden victory would have a positive impact on their own country, and 36%-58% think it would be good for the world – although again, relatively large proportions say they do not know.

Large proportions, ranging from 47% in Italy to 74% in Denmark, say they believe Trump’s re-election campaign so far has been “mostly dishonest”. Biden’s campaign is more likely to be seen as honest (26%-43%) than dishonest (7%-15%), but once again many more people answered “don’t know” for Biden than for Trump.

In each of the seven countries, more people expect a Biden win next month than a Trump win, but in only one – Denmark – do more than 50% say Biden will win.