Most Republicans don’t trust the election system. A red wave could change that.

Most Republicans who vote Tuesday, polls suggest, will participate in an election whose results they do not entirely trust, especially if their party loses.

Partisan doubt in the nation’s electoral system has seldom run higher. Polls consistently show a solid majority of Republicans lack faith in the vote count, a trend fueled by former President Trump’s relentless and unfounded attacks on the integrity of American elections when the 2020 campaign turned against him.

A Republican rout in today’s midterms may restore the party’s faith in fair elections, given historical trends. But recent history has never delivered so many candidates, from the presidential ticket on down, who refused to accept defeat.