A troubling new study shows that Tennesseans lack trust in the elections process. Only 46 percent of voters in a new poll believe President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

A pro-democracy group called the Tennessee Democracy Forum released stats from a new poll that shows Tennesseans are still divided over the 2020 election. In fact, 44% of the 1,125 voters polled said they believe the lie that President Joe Biden lost to former President Donald Trump. And that’s taking a toll on the Democratic process, according to former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. 

“It’s been going on now, as I said, for years, trying to undermine the public’s confidence in our electoral process,” Whitman said.

Whitman, who’s a Republican, spoke during a virtual discussion on the state of democracy in Tennessee. 

The poll also found division over the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, with 51% believing it was a form of protest.

“It’s no wonder people are starting to get confused because they’ve been hearing it over and over again,” Whitman said.

And Whitman adds that now those same people are running for office.  

“I’m worried at the state and local level that we see all of these election deniers get into office because they are going to change the rules in order to change the outcome no matter what their voting public votes for.”

Republican-controlled states have been passing more voting restrictions ahead of the midterms, especially in key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Arizona. 

Whitman suggests ways to combat a polarized electorate include open primaries and ranked choice voting. But the latter was just banned in Tennessee this session.