{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T06:24:49Z","timestamp":1775197489887,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]],"date-time":"2025-06-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750809600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2148553"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2148553"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The U.S. public\u2019s confidence in elections is intensively studied in the last decade but little is known about election confidence among locally elected officials, whose roles and community status may influence public opinion. Using a nationally representative survey of local election officials, we compare election confidence among local elected officials with that of the general public. Local elected officials are more likely to trust both local and national elections. We theorize factors that affect local officials\u2019 trust in elections, including partisan context, state leadership election denial levels, and political ambition. We show how social trust, partisan identity, and ambition significantly influence local officials\u2019 confidence that local and national results reflect the intention of voters. We conclude by showing how the relative lack of intensive partisan polarization among local elected officials is especially important at keeping election distrust low among local officials.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0324794","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]],"date-time":"2025-06-25T17:22:59Z","timestamp":1750872179000},"page":"e0324794","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Confidence in elections among U.S. local officials: Effects of social trust, partisanship and political ambition"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Eric","family":"Plutzer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gary","family":"Adler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rebecca","family":"Sager","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0829-6171","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jonathan S.","family":"Coley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Damon","family":"Mayrl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0324794.ref001","author":"National Association of Counties","year":"2023"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref002","author":"Heritage Foundation","year":"2024"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0324794.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.1162\/daed_a_01953","article-title":"Trust in elections","volume":"151","author":"C Stewart","year":"2022","journal-title":"Daedalus"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"451","DOI":"10.1093\/poq\/nfae016","article-title":"The global crisis of trust in elections","volume":"88","author":"N Kerr","year":"2024","journal-title":"Public Opin Quart"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0324794.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0259473","article-title":"When election expectations fail: polarized perceptions of election legitimacy increase with accumulating evidence of election outcomes and with polarized media","volume":"16","author":"MD Grant","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102541","DOI":"10.1016\/j.electstud.2022.102541","article-title":"Are elite cues necessary to drive the \u201cwinner effect\u201d on trust in elections?","volume":"80","author":"C Reller","year":"2022","journal-title":"Elect Stud"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226819280.001.0001","volume-title":"Local interests: Politics, policy, and interest group in US city governments","author":"SF Anzia","year":"2022"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref008","author":"D Docket","year":"2024"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref009","volume-title":"Securing the 2024 election: recommendations for federal, state, and local officials","author":"D Tisler","year":"2023"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref010","volume-title":"Election meltdown: dirty tricks, distrust, and the threat to American democracy","author":"RL Hasen","year":"2020"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref011","volume-title":"Becoming a candidate: political ambition and the decision to run for office","author":"JL Lawless","year":"2012"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0324794.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"975","DOI":"10.1111\/ajps.12206","article-title":"How politicians discount the opinions of constituents with whom they disagree","volume":"60","author":"DM Butler","year":"2016","journal-title":"Am J Polit Sci"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0324794.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1017\/XPS.2021.18","article-title":"The effects of unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud on confidence in elections","volume":"10","author":"N Berlinski","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Exp Polit Sci"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0324794.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.1111\/jssr.12758","article-title":"Religion\u2010state interaction at the local level: key findings from a survey of religion and local elected officials","volume":"61","author":"GJ Adler","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci Study Relig"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"176","DOI":"10.1016\/j.electstud.2015.08.004","article-title":"Partisanship and confidence in the vote count: evidence from US national elections since 2000","volume":"40","author":"MW Sances","year":"2015","journal-title":"Elect Stud"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0324794.ref016","first-page":"135","article-title":"Misinformation or expressive responding? What an inauguration crowd can tell us about the source of political misinformation in surveys","volume":"82","author":"BF Schaffner","year":"2018","journal-title":"Public Opin Quart"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0324794.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"267","DOI":"10.1017\/XPS.2022.33","article-title":"The big lie: expressive responding and misperceptions in the United States","volume":"10","author":"JJ Fahey","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Exp Polit Sci"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref018","article-title":"How local officials respond to expressions of public opinion.","volume-title":"Midwest political science association annual meetings","author":"AM Dynes","year":"2022"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0324794.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"439","DOI":"10.1111\/1468-2508.t01-3-00008","article-title":"The incentive to listen: progressive ambition, resources, and opinion monitoring among state legislators","volume":"65","author":"C Maestas","year":"2003","journal-title":"J Polit"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0324794.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"784","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-2508.2005.00339.x","article-title":"The skeptical American: revisiting the meanings of trust in government and confidence in institutions","volume":"67","author":"TE Cook","year":"2005","journal-title":"J Polit"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref021","first-page":"59","article-title":"Trust in people, confidence in political institutions, and satisfaction with democracy.","volume-title":"Citizenship and involvement in European democracies: a comparative analysis","author":"S Zmerli","year":"2007"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0324794.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1007\/s11109-015-9322-8","article-title":"Trusting the state, trusting each other? The effect of institutional trust on social trust","volume":"38","author":"KM S\u00f8nderskov","year":"2015","journal-title":"Polit Behav"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0324794.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"708","DOI":"10.1093\/poq\/nfac027","article-title":"Close (Causally Connected) cousins?","volume":"86","author":"PT Dinesen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Public Opin Quart"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"132","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ssresearch.2017.08.005","article-title":"Partisan strength, political trust and generalized trust in the United States: an analysis of the general social survey, 1972-2014","volume":"68","author":"M Hooghe","year":"2017","journal-title":"Soc Sci Res"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0324794.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"840","DOI":"10.1093\/ijpor\/edab021","article-title":"Particularized trust, institutional trust, and generalized trust: an examination of causal pathways","volume":"33","author":"SH Kim","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Public Opin Res"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0324794.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"413","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.polisci.11.060606.135412","article-title":"What have we learned about generalized trust, if anything?","volume":"11","author":"P Nannestad","year":"2008","journal-title":"Annu Rev Polit Sci"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref027","author":"K Yourish","year":"2022"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref028","volume-title":"The state roots of national politics: congress and the tax agenda, 1978\u20131986","author":"MB Berkman","year":"2010"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0324794.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1025","DOI":"10.2307\/2111731","article-title":"State legislators in congress: strategic politicians, professional legislatures, and the party nexus","volume":"38","author":"MB Berkman","year":"1994","journal-title":"Am J Polit Sci"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/9781394260645","volume-title":"Internet, phone, mail, and mixed-mode surveys: the tailored design method","author":"DA Dillman","year":"2014"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref031","author":"Caltech\/MIT Voting Technology Project","year":"2023"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref032","author":"MIT Election Data and Science Lab","year":"2023"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0324794.ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"283","DOI":"10.1177\/10659129231206179","article-title":"Confidence in US elections after the big lie","volume":"77","author":"S Bowler","year":"2023","journal-title":"Polit Res Quart"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref034","author":"FiveThirtyEight Staff","year":"2022"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0324794.ref035","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"291","DOI":"10.2307\/2675572","article-title":"The measure of american religion: toward improving the state of the art","volume":"79","author":"B Steensland","year":"2000","journal-title":"Social Forces"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref036","author":"BBC News","year":"2016"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0324794.ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1080\/17457289.2014.911744","article-title":"Electoral integrity and support for democracy in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine","volume":"25","author":"I McAllister","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Elections Public Opin Parties"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0324794.ref038","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"754","DOI":"10.1017\/S0022381608080730","article-title":"Are Americans confident their ballots are counted?","volume":"70","author":"RM Alvarez","year":"2008","journal-title":"J Polit"},{"key":"pone.0324794.ref039","first-page":"102537","article-title":"Social science research","volume":"95","author":"J Mewes","year":"2021","journal-title":"Soc Sci Res"}],"container-title":["PLOS One"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0324794","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]],"date-time":"2025-06-25T17:23:06Z","timestamp":1750872186000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0324794"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Sung Min","family":"Han","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]]},"references-count":39,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0324794","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,25]]}}}