“The Republican party now has a leader who has been very clear, in his speeches, rhetoric and actions, that he has authoritarian tendencies. He [President Donald Trump] doesn’t have a lot of respect for the norms of democracy, and he is willing to use violence and call on others to use violence to save power,” says Shana Gadarian, professor of political science and associate dean for research.

“Really, we have 24 years of watching Putin build an increasingly repressive, authoritarian state. So the main purpose of elections like this in an authoritarian country is to show everyone that Putin is forever, there is no alternative to Putin, there's no point in resisting his state,” says Brian Taylor, director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.

"The more politicized a misperception is, the more it's tied up with someone's party identity, the more likely it is to be a product of people's political attitudes rather than something that affects those attitudes," says Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science.