Partisanship and the Gender Gap in Perceptions of Election Integrity: Gender Accentuates the Winner–Loser Gap

Samantha J. DeRagon and Caroline Tolbert
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Samantha J. DeRagon: Department of Political Science, University of Iowa, USA
Caroline Tolbert: Department of Political Science, University of Iowa, USA

Politics and Governance, 2026, vol. 14

Abstract: Confidence in the accuracy of elections and ballot counting is a foundation of representative government. In the US and cross-nationally, a substantial body of research demonstrates that partisanship and electoral outcomes are the strongest and most consistent predictors of trust in elections. Against this backdrop, the role of demographic factors, and gender in particular, is less well understood. Building on previous research, we expect women to have lower confidence in US elections than men. Since women tend to be stronger partisans than men, we also expect that gender accentuates the winner–loser gap. Using the 2024 Cooperative Election Study, the results show women are less likely to believe national, state, and local elections were conducted fairly. As electoral losers, women Democrats and independents have lower election confidence than men in their parties. As electoral winners, men and women Republicans have similar electoral confidence. We also analyze the 2022 and 2020 elections and find that our results are robust among the electoral losing party; women again have lower election confidence than men. This gender gap in election integrity attitudes has important implications for women’s political participation and polarization in the US.

Keywords: election administration; election confidence; election integrity; partisan winners; partisanship; women in politics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:poango:v14:y:2026:a:11650

DOI: 10.17645/pag.11650

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