In a surprising finding ahead of the U.S. midterm elections Nov. 6, a survey has found that nearly one in five people may not vote due to security concerns with voting systems.

The finding comes from the 2018 Unisys Security Index, which compiles the results of a poll of 13,000 consumers in 13 countries, including more than 1,000 in the U.S., in August and September.

Some 19 percent of American respondents indicated that they “will not vote” or “have a high likelihood” of not voting in the midterm elections because of concerns about outside actors compromising the country’s election voting systems. Those aged 18 to 34 were the most likely at 26 percent. A full 86 percent of U.S. respondents overall expressed concerns over the prospect of U.S. election voting systems being compromised by outsiders.

“The lack of trust in our voting election systems as exposed by the 2018 Unisys Security Index potentially undermines confidence in America’s democratic system,” Tom Patterson, chief trust officer of Unisys, said in a statement. “The U.S. needs to build on progress made in preparation for this midterm election cycle, while factoring in that younger voters are the ones expressing the highest levels of concern over the integrity of the process. I am confident that our country will be able to address this dynamic.”

Globally, the survey also found that broad security concerns are higher among younger people, those with lower incomes and women. Survey respondents expressed the highest level of concern over identity theft, with 61 percent saying they were “very or extremely concerned,” while bank card fraud came in at 59 percent in terms of concern.

The survey also asked questions about broad security issues, with online security being a higher concern to many than earthquakes, terrorism and wars, “largely because they feel they have little control over how to address bad actors leveraging Internet-enabled technologies,” Patterson noted.

Device tracking was viewed differently. Internet-connected devices that provide security benefits ranked high in popularity, with 83 percent in favor of sending location data to police during emergencies and 75 percent in favor of sending emergency alerts to doctors.

Image: Unisys