52% Say Most Members Get Reelected Because Rules Are Rigged

Roughly half (52%) of Likely U.S. Voters say most members of Congress get reelected not because they do a good job representing the folks at home but because election rules are rigged to their benefit.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 17% feel incumbents get reelected because they do a good job representing their constituents, while 31% are undecided.  These findings show little change from April of last year. (To see survey question wording, click here).

It’s worth noting that the word “rigged” is a strong term included in this survey question. The fact that more than half the nation’s voters believe the election rules are "rigged" is a testament to the continuing high levels of distrust in the country today.

Only 48% say American elections are fair to voters. Over the past two decades, that figure has ranged from a low of 42% to a high of 54%.

Thirty-one percent (31%) disagree and do not believe elections are fair, while 21% are not sure.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on October 26-27, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.