Reported Voting Issues: Middlesex County, Massachusetts
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About this Report
This report tracks self-reports of voting-related issues including misleading election messages, intimidation, and voter registration problems to help identify areas that may need a closer look. It is part of the broader 2026 Voting Information Trends Research Initiative, which examines how Americans access voting information and understand key election-related topics ahead of the 2026 U.S. elections.
We include counties where at least 50 people responded to our survey. Of 250 such counties, Middlesex County ranked 205th highest in reports during this survey period. Findings reflect 167 respondents from Middlesex County, Massachusetts, surveyed between August 23 and October 26, 2026.
Monitored election problems
| Problem | Counts when a respondent reports they… | Time window |
|---|---|---|
| Registration challenge notice | Got a notice that their voter registration was challenged or canceled, or that they were removed from the rolls. | Past month |
| Conflicting registration information | Got conflicting information about their voter registration. | Past week or month |
| Discouraged from registering | Someone tried to discourage them from registering or staying registered. | Past day, week or month |
| Misleading calls or texts | Got a text, email, message, call or robocall about the 2026 election that felt misleading, coercive or unusual. | Past day, week or month |
| Intimidation or harassment | Experienced or witnessed harassment or intimidation connected with voting or elections. | 2026 election cycle |
| Trouble with a voting task | Had trouble registering, checking their registration, or requesting, returning or tracking a mail ballot. | 2026 election |
Table of Contents
Select a name to go to that section.
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Summary of Findings | Share of Middlesex County respondents reporting each problem, compared with the Massachusetts and national rates |
| Week by week | Weekly shares for the three problems asked about in the past day or week |
| Who reported a problem | Shares by gender, age, household income, race/ethnicity, education and party |
| Follow-up detail | Follow-up answers for each problem reported by more than 10 people |
| Massachusetts overview | The same measures for all respondents in Massachusetts, for comparison |
| National overview | The same measures for all respondents nationally, for comparison |
| About the survey | What the survey monitors, how counties are ranked, and limits of the data |
Summary of Findings
22.2% of Middlesex County respondents (37 of 167) reported at least one of six election problems, compared with 26.5% nationally. No single problem is higher than the national rate by more than the margin of error. Statewide, 27.9% of Massachusetts respondents (274 of 981) reported at least one problem; the chart shows Middlesex County, Massachusetts and national rates side by side. Middlesex County respondents make up 17.0% of all Massachusetts respondents (167 of 981) and 0.3% of all respondents nationally (167 of 56,077).
Figure 1. Share of Middlesex County, Massachusetts respondents reporting each problem, with the Massachusetts and national shares, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Middlesex County n = 167; Massachusetts n = 981 (including Middlesex County, 17% of the state's respondents); national n = 56,077. Margin of error for the county share reporting any problem: ±6.3 percentage points, so the county figure is within the margin of error of the national rate. Source: CHIP50 survey data.
Week by week
Figure 2. Weekly share of Middlesex County, Massachusetts respondents reporting each problem (teal line with circles), with Massachusetts statewide (red line with squares, including Middlesex County) and the national share (black dashed line). The shaded band is the 95% confidence interval for the national share, which is the range the weekly figure could vary based on the sample size alone. Hollow points are weeks with fewer than 10 Middlesex County respondents. Weeks start Monday; only problems asked about in the past day or week are shown (conflicting registration information: past week), each person counted once per week. Source: CHIP50 survey data.
Weekly groups in Middlesex County are small (8 to 63 people), and who answered these questions changes from week to week, so treat week-to-week movement as a signal to watch, not a finding. From Aug 23–Oct 12 to Oct 13–Oct 26, the share of Middlesex County respondents reporting any of these three problems went from 7.1% to 10.4% (140 and 48 people): no clear change, since the difference is within the margin of error.
Who reported a problem
Among groups of 30 or more people, reports were most common among people with household income $25,000 to $50,000 (30.8%) and least common among high school graduates (16.2%), against 22.2% overall.
| Group | Reported | Share |
|---|---|---|
| All respondents | 37 of 167 | 22.2% |
| Gender | ||
| Female | 21 of 93 | 22.6% |
| Male | 16 of 74 | 21.6% |
| Age | ||
| 18 to 24 | 1 of 5 | – |
| 25 to 44 | 9 of 52 | 17.3% |
| 45 to 64 | 16 of 65 | 24.6% |
| 65 and over | 11 of 45 | 24.4% |
| Household income | ||
| Under 25K | 7 of 28 | 25.0% |
| 25k to under 50k | 12 of 39 | 30.8% |
| 50K to under 75K | 3 of 24 | 12.5% |
| 75K to under 100K | 3 of 22 | 13.6% |
| 100K and over | 11 of 48 | 22.9% |
| Group | Reported | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Race/ethnicity | ||
| White or Caucasian | 29 of 139 | 20.9% |
| Asian or Asian American | 3 of 14 | 21.4% |
| Black or African American | 4 of 11 | 36.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 2 of 10 | 20.0% |
| Native American or Alaska Native | 1 of 3 | – |
| Education | ||
| Some High School or Less | 1 of 1 | – |
| High School Graduate | 6 of 37 | 16.2% |
| Some College | 6 of 30 | 20.0% |
| College Degree | 18 of 62 | 29.0% |
| Graduate Degree | 6 of 37 | 16.2% |
| Party | ||
| Democrat | 13 of 69 | 18.8% |
| Republican | 7 of 27 | 25.9% |
| Independent/Other | 17 of 71 | 23.9% |
Share reporting at least one of the six problems, by group, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Race/ethnicity is select-all-that-apply, so one person can appear in more than one group. Shares are shown for groups of 10 or more people. Source: CHIP50 survey data.
Follow-up detail
Follow-up detail is shown for each problem reported by more than 10 people. Not shown: registration challenge notices (5 people), conflicting registration information (no follow-up question), being discouraged from registering (6 people), intimidation or harassment (8 people) and trouble with a voting task (10 people).
Massachusetts Overview
August 23 to October 26, 2026. 981 respondents across Massachusetts, including people whose county is not on file.
27.9% of Massachusetts respondents (274 of 981) reported at least one of six election problems, compared with 26.5% nationally. Of the monitored problems, registration challenge notices (4.3% vs. 2.5% nationally) is higher than the national rate by more than the margin of error.
Figure 3. Share of Massachusetts respondents reporting each problem, with the national share, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Massachusetts n = 981; national n = 56,077. Margin of error for the state share reporting any problem: ±2.8 percentage points, so the state figure is within the margin of error of the national rate. Source: CHIP50 survey data.
Massachusetts: Week by week
Figure 4. Weekly share of Massachusetts respondents reporting each problem (red line), with the national share (black dashed line). The shaded band is the 95% confidence interval for the national share, which is the range the weekly figure could vary based on the sample size alone. Hollow points are weeks with fewer than 10 Massachusetts respondents. Weeks start Monday; only problems asked about in the past day or week are shown (conflicting registration information: past week), each person counted once per week. Source: CHIP50 survey data.
Weekly groups in Massachusetts are small (57 to 325 people), and who answered these questions changes from week to week, so treat week-to-week movement as a signal to watch, not a finding.
Massachusetts: Who reported a problem
Among groups of 30 or more people, reports were most common among Republicans (41.3%) and least common among people 65 and over (17.4%), against 27.9% overall. Reports rose with education. By race and ethnicity, reports were most common among Black or African American respondents (39.6%, 42 of 106), 1.5 times the rate among White or Caucasian respondents (25.8%, 207 of 802), a difference larger than the margin of error; Hispanic or Latino respondents (36.6%) fell in between.
| Group | Reported | Share |
|---|---|---|
| All respondents | 274 of 981 | 27.9% |
| Gender | ||
| Female | 137 of 556 | 24.6% |
| Male | 137 of 425 | 32.2% |
| Age | ||
| 18 to 24 | 17 of 48 | 35.4% |
| 25 to 44 | 118 of 303 | 38.9% |
| 45 to 64 | 99 of 400 | 24.8% |
| 65 and over | 40 of 230 | 17.4% |
| Household income | ||
| Under 25K | 52 of 198 | 26.3% |
| 25k to under 50k | 60 of 225 | 26.7% |
| 50K to under 75K | 42 of 184 | 22.8% |
| 75K to under 100K | 30 of 133 | 22.6% |
| 100K and over | 81 of 221 | 36.7% |
| Group | Reported | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Race/ethnicity | ||
| White or Caucasian | 207 of 802 | 25.8% |
| Black or African American | 42 of 106 | 39.6% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 37 of 101 | 36.6% |
| Asian or Asian American | 9 of 28 | 32.1% |
| Native American or Alaska Native | 10 of 20 | 50.0% |
| Other | 4 of 9 | – |
| Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian | 1 of 3 | – |
| Education | ||
| Some High School or Less | 9 of 39 | 23.1% |
| High School Graduate | 55 of 238 | 23.1% |
| Some College | 53 of 214 | 24.8% |
| College Degree | 111 of 348 | 31.9% |
| Graduate Degree | 46 of 142 | 32.4% |
| Party | ||
| Democrat | 92 of 385 | 23.9% |
| Republican | 76 of 184 | 41.3% |
| Independent/Other | 106 of 411 | 25.8% |
Share reporting at least one of the six problems, by group, Massachusetts, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Race/ethnicity is select-all-that-apply, so one person can appear in more than one group. Shares are shown for groups of 10 or more people. Source: CHIP50 survey data.
Massachusetts: Follow-up detail
Follow-up detail is shown for each problem reported by more than 10 people. Not shown: conflicting registration information (no follow-up question).
Registration notices: who sent the notice
| Election office | 55% (23) |
| A private group or organization | 21% (9) |
| A political party or campaign | 19% (8) |
| News or social media | 19% (8) |
| Other | 12% (5) |
| Not sure | 10% (4) |
Share of the 42 people asked.
Trouble with a voting task, by task
| Trouble checking registration | 3% (34) |
| Trouble registering | 3% (30) |
| Trouble tracking a ballot | 2% (23) |
| Trouble requesting a mail ballot | 2% (20) |
| Trouble returning a mail ballot | 2% (19) |
Share of the 986 people asked.
Discouraged from registering: who discouraged them
| News or social media | 40% (16) |
| A private group or organization | 32% (13) |
| Election office | 28% (11) |
| A political party or campaign | 28% (11) |
| Not sure | 12% (5) |
| Other | 10% (4) |
Share of the 40 people asked.
National Overview
August 23 to October 26, 2026. 56,077 respondents who answered all six questions.
26.5% of respondents (14,861 of 56,077) reported at least one of six election problems. The most common were misleading calls or texts (15.7%) and intimidation or harassment (7.7%); the least common was registration challenge notices (2.5%).
Figure 5. Share of respondents reporting each problem, national, Aug 23–Oct 26, 2026. Each person counted once; bases vary slightly by question (56,077 to 56,446). Margin of error for the national share reporting any problem: ±0.4 percentage points. Source: CHIP50 survey data.
National: Week by week
Figure 6. Weekly share of respondents reporting each problem, national. The shaded band is the 95% confidence interval for the national share, which is the range the weekly figure could vary based on the sample size alone. Weeks start Monday; only problems asked about in the past day or week are shown (conflicting registration information: past week), each person counted once per week, so weekly rates are lower than full-period rates. Source: CHIP50 survey data.
Misleading calls or texts went from 6.8% in the week of Aug 31 to 11.8% in the week of Oct 19; being discouraged from registering went from 1.9% in the week of Aug 31 to 2.0% in the week of Oct 19; conflicting registration information went from 2.0% in the week of Aug 31 to 2.1% in the week of Oct 19. Weeks have 2,874 to 16,019 respondents (the first, partial week 388), so the margin of error is narrow except in that first week. From Aug 23–Oct 12 to Oct 13–Oct 26, the share of respondents reporting any of these three problems went from 10.4% to 13.9% (44,992 and 16,011 people): a rise larger than the margin of error.
National: Who reported a problem
Among groups of 200 or more people, reports were most common among people aged 18 to 24 (42.5%) and least common among people 65 and over (19.0%), against 26.5% overall. Reports rose with income and education, and fell with age. By race and ethnicity, reports were most common among Hispanic or Latino respondents (33.6%, 1628 of 4850), 8 points higher than White or Caucasian respondents (25.1%, 10421 of 41451), a difference larger than the margin of error; Asian or Asian American respondents (30.5%), Black or African American respondents (30.2%), Other respondents (30.1%), Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian respondents (29.3%) and Native American or Alaska Native respondents (29.0%) fell in between.
| Group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| All respondents | 56,077 | 26.5% |
| Gender | ||
| Female | 32,594 | 24.6% |
| Male | 23,483 | 29.1% |
| Age | ||
| 18 to 24 | 3,000 | 42.5% |
| 25 to 44 | 20,216 | 32.0% |
| 45 to 64 | 21,426 | 23.0% |
| 65 and over | 11,435 | 19.0% |
| Household income | ||
| Under 25K | 14,924 | 22.3% |
| 25k to under 50k | 15,840 | 24.7% |
| 50K to under 75K | 10,771 | 27.8% |
| 75K to under 100K | 6,124 | 30.5% |
| 100K and over | 7,828 | 32.6% |
| Group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Race/ethnicity | ||
| White or Caucasian | 41,451 | 25.1% |
| Black or African American | 9,966 | 30.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 4,850 | 33.6% |
| Native American or Alaska Native | 1,869 | 29.0% |
| Asian or Asian American | 1,648 | 30.5% |
| Other | 478 | 30.1% |
| Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian | 314 | 29.3% |
| Education | ||
| Some High School or Less | 2,605 | 19.1% |
| High School Graduate | 17,574 | 23.2% |
| Some College | 14,404 | 25.8% |
| College Degree | 16,724 | 30.0% |
| Graduate Degree | 4,770 | 32.7% |
| Party | ||
| Democrat | 20,129 | 29.2% |
| Republican | 17,073 | 26.4% |
| Independent/Other | 18,814 | 23.6% |
Share reporting at least one of the six problems, by group, national. Race/ethnicity is select-all-that-apply, so one person can appear in more than one group. Source: CHIP50 survey data.
National: Follow-up detail
Follow-up detail for respondents nationwide who reported each problem. Not shown: conflicting registration information (no follow-up question).
Registration notices: who sent the notice
| Election office | 46% (647) |
| A political party or campaign | 28% (394) |
| News or social media | 22% (308) |
| A private group or organization | 21% (299) |
| Not sure | 14% (191) |
| Other | 3% (45) |
Share of the 1,401 people asked.
Trouble with a voting task, by task
| Trouble registering | 3% (1,789) |
| Trouble checking registration | 3% (1,689) |
| Trouble requesting a mail ballot | 2% (1,041) |
| Trouble tracking a ballot | 2% (1,039) |
| Trouble returning a mail ballot | 1% (656) |
Share of all 56,446 respondents asked.
Discouraged from registering: who discouraged them
| News or social media | 35% (749) |
| A political party or campaign | 32% (684) |
| A private group or organization | 27% (584) |
| Election office | 25% (544) |
| Other | 10% (210) |
| Not sure | 10% (206) |
Share of the 2,161 people asked.
About the survey
The 2026 Voting Information Trends research Initiative tracks how people get voting information and monitors possible election-related problems reported at the county level. We focus on issues respondents say they have personally experienced or observed, including misleading election communications, intimidation, voter registration problems, and difficulties completing voting-related tasks. The goal is to identify signals that may warrant closer attention.
We survey about 1,000 U.S. adults each day through an online, nonprobability sample covering all 50 states and Washington, D.C. State-level quotas are used for race, ethnicity, age, and gender. We also collect additional responses from selected counties identified as higher risk by the Voting Rights Lab (VRL), whose 2026 risk index considers factors including electoral competitiveness, election laws and procedures, litigation, and concerns involving state and local election actors.
How to read this report
Counties with at least 50 respondents are ranked by the share of unique respondents reporting at least one monitored problem during the data-collection period. We also report results for individual problems, weekly trends, demographic groups, and when sample sizes allow, additional follow-up detail.
Weekly trends are shown only for questions that ask about experiences in the past day or week, and each respondent is counted once per week. Figures include a 95% margin of error based on sample size. We describe a county as higher than the national rate only when the difference is larger than that margin.
When a respondent selects a problem but then states in an optional written follow-up that nothing actually happened, we recode the response as not reporting the problem. These contradictions are identified using a large language model (LLM) assisted coding and reviewed by a member of the research team.
About the data
These results are signals, not estimates of prevalence. The survey is not nationally or locally representative, and results should not be used to estimate how common a problem is in the country or in any county. Figures are unweighted and describe the people who responded. Unlike individual reports found on social media, these responses come from a standardized survey using the same questions and time periods across respondents, allowing us to compare patterns across places and against a national benchmark.
The purpose of the survey is to identify issues that may warrant independent investigation or verification. Election officials, journalists, and other organizations can then assess those reports and respond when appropriate.
Because the data are self-reported, a response does not by itself verify that the reported problem occurred. Respondents may also interpret questions differently from researchers. For example, some reports of “misleading calls or texts” describe campaign messages rather than false voting information, and some registration notices may come from campaigns or advocacy organizations rather than election offices. These findings should therefore be treated as signals of where to look more closely, not counts of verified incidents.
Use of AI in this report
The research team wrote and reviewed the “About the survey” section. The summaries of the results are filled in automatically from templates built with AI. All numbers come directly from the survey data. Automated text can contain errors, so readers should check the summaries against the tables and charts.