Poll: 7-in-10 want candidates to accept election outcome

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The vast majority of Americans think the loser of the presidential election should accept the outcome and concede the race without questioning the result, according to a new poll.

A survey by Politico and Morning Consult found 70 percent of Americans said the loser of the Nov. 8 election should accept the result. Only 14 percent said the loser should contest the result.

The survey comes two days after Trump in a debate refused to say whether he would accept the outcome of the election if he were to lose, saying he would "look at it at the time." On Thursday, he said in a speech that he would accept the outcome "if I win."

Even among the most conservative voters, those who identified themselves as part of the Tea Party, 53 percent said Trump should accept the outcome no matter what. Only 24 percent of Trump supporters said they want him to challenge the outcome. Roughly another quarter of Trump supporters said they have not made up their minds about whether he should challenge the result.

Though many voters do not want to see the election challenged, they remain skeptical of the process itself. Forty-six percent of respondents said it is likely there will be widespread voter fraud and 37 percent said it's likely people will cast ballots on behalf of dead people.

The poll surveyed 1,598 registered voters and 1,395 likely voters, including roughly equal numbers of Republicans, Democrats and independents. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.