F&M Stories

F&M Poll: Voters Overwhelmingly Support Democratic Principles

Voters don't approve of the tactics of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) and oppose nationalizing the elections, according to the latest Franklin & Marshall College Poll.

The poll showed that 76% do not believe ICE officers should ever use deadly force against protestors; 75% don't believe they should enter a home without a judicial warrant; 57% oppose ICE agents wearing masks; and 53% oppose them using unmarked vehicles.

President Donald Trump seeks to nationalize elections, which means the federal government under his administration would oversee polling places, not individual states as laid out in the Constitution. Voters largely oppose the proposal (70%), while 20% support the idea and 4% said they did not know. 

Conducted from Feb. 18 to March 1, the survey showed most voters believe Trump has pushed (19%) or overstepped (50%) the limits of the presidency.

The poll also indicates that Pennsylvania voters remain committed to democracy.

Asked whether they were satisfied with the way American democracy works, 39% of the respondents reported they were "very dissatisfied," which is down 2 points from last October.

"While there is a feeling that democracy doesn't quite work the way it should, underlying that is a strong belief in the foundational principles of democracy," said Berwood Yost, director of the poll. 

READ THE POLL

Voters were surveyed between Feb. 18 and March 1, 2026 by interviewers at the Center for Opinion Research. The data represent the responses of 834 registered Pennsylvania voters, including 353 Democrats, 347 Republicans, and 134 independents. The sample error for this survey is +/- 4.1 percentage points when the design effects from weighting are considered.

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