Poll: 41 Percent of Voters Say Election Could Be 'Stolen' From Donald Trump, As He Ramps Up 'Rigged' Election Rhetoric

As Donald Trump continues to ramp up his rhetoric about a "rigged" election, an increasing number of voters are becoming skeptical about the integrity of American elections, with more than four out of 10 saying that the race for the White House could be "stolen" from the Republican presidential nominee because of voter fraud, according to a new poll.

In all, 41 percent of voters say that Trump could lose the election because of voter fraud, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll released on Monday. However, there is a strong partisan divide: 73 percent of Republicans think the election could be "stolen," while just 17 percent of Democrats agree with the prospect of voter fraud that would determine the outcome of the election.

Over the past week, Trump has cast doubt on the American electoral system, saying he believes the results will be "rigged" at many polling places.

On Monday morning, the Republican nominee blamed the leaders of his party for being "naive."

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Mike Pence, Trump's running mate, tried to soften the New York businessman's stance by making a distinction between so-called media collusion and voter fraud at the polls by saying the Republican ticket would abide by election results.

"We will absolutely accept the result of the election," said Pence. "Look, the American people will speak in an election that will culminate on November the 8th. But the American people are tired of the obvious bias in the national media."

However, moments after Pence's interview aired, Trump contradicted his running mate on Twitter, writing that fraud will occur "at many polling places."

On Saturday at a rally in Bangor, Maine, Trump said, "The election is being rigged by corrupt media pushing false allegations and outright lies in an effort to elect Hillary Clinton president," adding, "We are going to stop it. We are not going to back down."

Trump has floated for months the idea of voter fraud as the only plausible reason for his defeat in November, but he has ramped up the rhetoric in recent weeks as it becomes increasingly clear that voters are siding with Clinton in polling.

In recent national polling, Clinton leads head-to-head match-ups against Trump, with the Democrat holding 47.7 percent support compared to 42.2 percent for the New York businessman, according to averages compiled by RealClear Politics.

The poll was conducted among 1,999 registered voters Oct. 13-15 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons