As the midterm elections near, another poll is showing that Ohio voters and Americans generally are deeply concerned about corruption.
In Ohio, respondents said they didn’t particularly trust either party to fix the problem. And huge majorities said they’d consider voting for candidates who said they’d fight corruption in specific ways.
The survey was an online poll of registered voters conducted between Sept. 8 and Sept. 23. It was conducted by YouGov on behalf of the reform group End Citizens United.
When asked, “How much of a problem do you think corruption in government is in the United States today?” two-thirds of Ohio voters said it was a very serious problem.
Another 28% said it was a somewhat serious problem. That’s 94% of voters who think it’s a problem.
Zero said it wasn’t a problem at all.
Ohio has its own recent history of corruption, but the poll didn’t ask specifically about it.
When Ohio voters were asked to pick three of eight issues they found most pressing, “corruption in Washington” came in at No. 2. “Economy and rising costs” was No.1, and “threats to democracy and elections” was No. 3.
The Ohio results roughly matched those in an identical national poll.
While the Ohio poll didn’t ask respondents to define corruption, another national poll conducted this spring did.
The Brennan Center for Justice, which sponsored the poll, said respondents “understand corruption broadly, centered in part on the perception that government primarily works for the ultrawealthy and well-connected and doesn’t prioritize the interests of most voters.”
Other survey data show that Americans see partisan gerrymandering as another form of corruption because it also thwarts the will of the voters.
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The portion of respondents to the Brennan Center poll who said corruption is a major problem was similar to that in the Ohio poll that was conducted in September.
When it comes to solving corruption, the Ohio respondents in September appeared to view both parties with suspicion.
Thirty five percent said they trusted Republicans more to address the issue than Democrats. That compares to 32% of Ohioans who said they trusted Democrats more to clean up corruption.
That leaves a full third of respondents in the “neither” camp. And this appears to create opportunities for reform-minded candidates.
Asked if support for certain reforms would make them more likely to support a candidate, huge majorities said they would. The reforms:
- Ban Congressional stock trading — Seventy percent said it would make them more likely to support a candidate, 10% said it would make them less likely and 20% were uncertain.
- Ban corporate political action committees from giving to campaigns — Sixty four percent said it would make them more like, 9% said it would make them less likely and 27% were undecided.
- Require donor disclosure, or get rid of dark money — Seventy two percent said they were more likely to support that candidate, 8% said they were less likely and 19% were undecided.
Election Day is Nov. 3. Military and overseas absentee voting, as well as early in-person and mail-in voting, have started.
The deadline to register to vote has passed.
The Ohio Secretary of State’s election calendar can be found here.
