Is democracy on the line in this election? Democrats have made that their main theme of this election cycle, to very little avail when it comes to the presidential election. Polls show that not only has it not helped Kamala Harris, some polls think she and Joe Biden present a bigger risk to democracy than Donald Trump. 

Jonathan Turley pointed this out earlier, using data from a Washington Post poll report on Monday:

Threats to democracy rank high as an issue to the voters in these states, with 61 percent overall saying it is extremely important, including 71 percent of Democrats, as well as 61 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of independents.

Slightly more registered voters in these states trust Trump over Harris to handle threats to democracy in the United States, 43 percent to 40 percent. This is also true among uncommitted voters, with 32 percent saying they trust Trump, 28 percent Harris and 26 percent trusting neither candidate.

Turley bashes Democratic efforts to hype a panic over muh democracy that simply doesn't exist in the electorate:

Notably, this was the same result when President Biden was the nominee. While over half said that threats to democracy were important to them, the voters trusted Trump (44%) more than Biden (33%) in protecting democracy.

Even with the slight improvement for Harris, the result was crushing for not just many in the Harris campaign but the press and pundits who have been unrelenting in announcing the end of democracy if Harris is not elected.

To the extent it exists at all, voters likely worry more about all of the attempts to force Trump out of politics through lawfare. The last two years have had Democrats at the state and federal levels manipulating statutes in order to craft unprecedented lawsuits and prosecutions to 'disqualify' Trump for another presidential run. Fulton County DA Fani Willis put together a RICO case out of legal gossamer; Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg did the same thing with ledger entries that would have been misdemeanors long past the statute of limitation expiry. And, of course, Jack Smith has spent more than a year trying to prosecute a former president for the first time in history.

That's not to say that Harris' argument and record has not had an impact on concerns over democracy, however. After an unprecedented wave of illegal immigration and irregularities in election processes, Americans have reached a near-consensus on the need for requiring IDs at the voting booth, as well as proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Gallup reports that more than eight in ten Americans support both, higher than support for early voting:

With less than two weeks to go in the presidential campaign and voting already underway in many states, 76% of U.S. adults favor the concept of early voting. Two other election law policies are supported by even more Americans -- requiring photo identification to vote (84%) and providing proof of citizenship when registering to vote for the first time (83%). ...

Majorities of Americans favor a range of election law policies that expand voters’ access to the ballot box, including early voting, automatic voter registration and sending absentee ballot applications to all eligible voters. They also broadly support measures to limit fraud and ensure election integrity, including requiring photo identification to vote and providing proof of citizenship when first registering to vote. 

The level of support for voter-ID seems pretty consistent on the Gallup track, albeit somewhat variable over the years. Support for voter-ID requirements has always been around the 80% mark over the last decade of Gallup polling; two years ago, it was 79%, and 80% in 2016. It's as close to a consensus that Americans get on policy, and yet it is constantly demagogued as some sort of suppression technique of legitimate voting. 

However, this is the first poll I can recall which included the demand for proof of citizenship at registration. That topic has come up in this election cycle, with the Left howling about suppression, racism, and every other kind of -ism one can imagine. That has an almost identical level of consensus, however, at 83% of Americans. 

Needless to say, with these levels of support, these policies have clear majorities in all partisan demos -- but let's review it anyway. Voter-ID requirements get support from 67% of Democrats and 84% of independents, along with 98% (!) of Republicans. Requiring proof of citizenship at first registration has nearly identical numbers -- 66% of Dems, 84% of indies, and 96% of Republicans. As for these being racist policies, tell that to 80% of people of color supporting voter-ID and 76% of people of color who want proof of citizenship to access the ballot. 

So what about it, Kamala Harris and Democrat leadership? If you want to "protect democracy," how about protecting the ballot and eligible citizens?