Voters lack overall confidence in the honesty of their government, believing nearly every level is majorly or somewhat corrupt, according to a new poll.
According to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday, voters are distrustful of the government at every level, not just the federal government.
Over two-thirds of voters -- 85 percent -- view the federal government as either “very corrupt” or “somewhat corrupt” while only 11 percent say the federal government is “not very corrupt” or “not at all corrupt.”
Voters were slightly more confident their state governments were less corrupt than their federal counterparts, but not by much.
Voters’ perception of corruption in the federal government has typically always been high, though this year’s numbers are slightly higher than last year’s.
Congress has been embroiled in a gridlock for most of the year, failing to pass major legislation related to repealing and replacing Obamacare.
According to the poll, over half of voters -- 63 percent -- viewed their state government as “very corrupt” or “somewhat corrupt.” Thirty-four percent said state governments were “not very corrupt or “not at all corrupt.”
Likely voters seem to have the most confidence in their local governments, with less than half -- 48 percent -- saying local municipalities and officials were very corrupt or somewhat corrupt.
A slightly higher percentage -- 49 percent -- said their local governments were not very corrupt or not corrupt at all.
Four percent of voters across the board said they weren’t sure just how corrupt their government was at all levels.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on Sept. 26-27 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
