Trump or Biden? Urban Indians most divided in choice for next US President

Is Trump a friend of India? Is there widespread support in India for Trump for Presidentship? Ipsos global study shows Indians are quite divided in their views about who the next US President should be and busts myths about all Indians backing Trump: Only 1 in 3 urban Indians (36%) said Trump will win the Elections; 39% predicted a win for Biden; 18% were unsure and 8% did not disclose who their choice would be.

And if Indians could vote, who would they vote for, to be the next US President? Again the views were highly divided - 34% said Trump, 38% Biden, 21% were unsure and 8% preferred not to answer. Interestingly, amongst 25 countries, the %age of people favoring Trump to win the presidential election was the highest in India (36%), the global average (excluding the US) being 27%.

Risks to the US Presidential Elections

Urban Indians foresee some of these key risks that the US Presidential Elections could confront.

Spread of fake news about candidates (28%); efforts to prevent people from voting (27%); organizational problems (25%);  voter fraud or impersonation (23%); vote buying (22%); interference from foreign power (20%); efforts to misrecord, misuse or destroy valid votes; prefer not to answer (14%), etc.  

"Like the previous US Presidential Election, this one too is a maze and the predicament of Indians is understandable. It is hard to predict the outcome, as both candidates are on even keel. Some of the issues around free and fair elections could have ramifications on the results, so like Indians, most global citizens have their fingers crossed that these issues do not cast a shadow on the most awaited Elections, next month," says Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India.

Interestingly, Indians said vote buying/ bribing (32%), was the biggest issue in India, during elections. Voter fraud or impersonation (30%), spread of fake news around candidates (29%), organisational problems (28%), efforts to prevent people from voting (27%), efforts to misrecord, misuse or destroy valid votes (21%) were some of the other key issues highlighted.