Poll Shows Biden Leading Trump By 7-Points But Gap Narrows

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden‘s lead over President Donald Trump has dropped 5 points since June, a USA Today-Suffolk University poll found.

According to the poll, Trump now trails by only 7 points, 43%-50%. The other 7% of respondents were either undecided or did not answer the question.

The tightening of the race, coincides with the end of both party’s conventions and increased campaign rhetoric, with Trump branding himself as the candidate who would reinstate “law and order” amidst nationwide protests in the wake of police violence against Black people and Biden consistently attacking the president for comments inciting violence.

The election, which will largely be conducted through mail-in voting due to COVID-19, has raised fears regarding the accuracy of the ballots. The poll showed that the majority of Republicans (83%) are at least somewhat concerned that mail-in voting will lead to fraud, with 62% saying they are very concerned it will.

In contrast, only a third of Democrats said they were somewhat concerned about mail-in voting fraud.

Trump has advocated against mail-in voting, claiming without substantial evidence that it would lead to widespread fraud.

The mail-in ballots and concerns over fraud mean many are not prepared to accept the results of the election at face-value should their candidate lose. About 28% of Biden supporters polled said they would react this way and 19% of Trump supporters said the same of a Biden win.

The USA Today-Suffolk survey is based on the responses of 1,000 registered voters from Aug. 28-31, and its margin of error is +/-3.1%.

Article by Katherine Huggins