More than one in four Americans do not accept President-elect Joe Biden's win as legitimate, a new poll conducted by SurveyMonkey for Axios found out.

Slim majority believe Biden's win is legit

And even if Congress certifies the Electoral College results, an overwhelming majority (77 per cent) of people who do not recognise Biden's legitimate win said they still would not believe it.

Of the 2,516 American adults polled from Jan. 4 to 5, only slightly more than half (58 per cent) accept that Biden had won the election legitimately.

On the other hand, 27 per cent of them think that Biden's victory was not legitimate, while 11 per cent said they were uncertain.

When the results are broken down by party line, almost all Democrats (96 per cent) and a slight majority of independents (57 per cent) accept Biden as the next president, while 62 per cent of Republicans do not.

Axios opined that the findings reveal the extent of the damage done to Biden by two months of unverified theories of electoral fraud.

Massive partisan split

Furthermore, the survey results show a partisan split when it comes to the effort by a group of Republicans who are seeking to block certification of Biden's Electoral College win in Congress.

While almost three in four Democrats think the attempt is a threat to the U.S.'s democracy, six in 10 Republicans think it is a defence of the same.

The poll results come just two weeks ahead of Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, which is set to go ahead despite ongoing tensions with Trump.

Trump is reportedly doing all he can to overturn the election results -- an action that risks splintering the Republican camp.

States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval. All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021

Multiple Republicans have voiced out against the proposal, including third-most powerful House Republican Liz Cheney, who said they have to uphold "an oath under God" to defend the constitution "at all times, not only when it is politically convenient".

We have sworn an oath under God to defend the Constitution. We uphold that oath at all times, not only when it is politically convenient.

Congress has no authority to overturn elections by objecting to electors. Doing so steals power from the states & violates the Constitution.

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) January 6, 2021

Senate Majority Leader and top Republican Mitch McConnell had also recognised Biden’s win three weeks ago, congratulating him and Kamala Harris on her victory as Vice President-elect.

He had asked other Republicans not to oppose the result as well.

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