VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Even though conspiracy theories have influenced elections throughout history, a Central Florida political science professor says they may be cause for concern this election cycle.

“At the end of the day, if conspiracy thinking undermines our ability not to disagree but to fundamentally not know what is really happening, that's very, very dangerous for our democracy,” said Dr. Steven Smallpaige, who studies public opinion and voter psychology at Stetson University in DeLand.

Political leaders in Central Florida are no strangers to conspiracies this year.  

"They repeat all these things that have been said, and whether it is right or wrong, it sticks in people's heads," said Jewel Dickson, chair of the Volusia County Democratic Party.

Dickson runs the group's social media pages and said she sees conspiracies in her feed and messages daily. She claims she’s even confronted them in person.

“They come up to us and say, 'Why are you voting for someone who is a pedophile?' And we say, 'What are you talking about?' And it's some theory they’ve heard from QAnon or one of these groups,” Dickson said.

Across the county at the Volusia Republican Party headquarters, Republican state Committeeman Vic Baker runs his group's social media accounts.

“I don’t see much of this conspiracy theory crap coming through the conversations that are shared with me and I have, personally, I have 3,300 Facebook followers," Baker said. "Our Volusia County Republican Party has close to 10,000, and we are actively engaging in dialogue every day."

He explained that he mostly sees conspiracies in the media and considers them a nonfactor for Republicans. 

“I am finding that people are really educating themselves, and this notion of certain sites, 'dark sites,' maybe some people call them dark sites, QAnon, we don’t go there," Baker said. "I don’t even visit those sites. I stay pretty much with the people I know I can trust.”

Smallpaige, the Stetson professor, said his research suggests that people are very likely to believe conspiracy theories when they hear them. 

“Most Americans believe at least one conspiracy (theory)," he said. "Of course, you can say, 'Well not me,' but if you go down the list of the moon landing to Area 51 to JKF to 9/11 'truther' to the birther conspiracy to all of these, there is going to be one that you believe," Smallpaige said. "At the end of the day, that is not the part that is dangerous; believing a conspiracy is not the part that is dangerous.

"The part that is dangerous is when they become core to your identity.”​

He said some of the major conspiracies this election cycle involve QAnon, the so-called "deep state," and the #savethechildren hashtag. He claims they become dangerous by causing confusion.

“Once that seed has been planted, once Americans have started to see the world that way, it becomes very, very, very difficult for us to jostle,” Smallpaige said.

In the long run, he worries that conspiracies and conspiracy thinking could distract Americans from larger issues and push them away from believing in the foundation of our democracy. 

“The damage is done, in a way, because the conspiracy element, conspiracy thinking, has already pushed them in this direction to fundamentally question the status quo, to fundamentally question empirical reality,” Smallpaige said.

He claims the only way to stop this is with education and engagement in the political process.

Dickson says she is up to that challenge. 

“We have to educate people to look at what the sources are, where the information is coming from, because they just see it or hear it and believe it," she said.

As for Baker, he’s confident voters will tune out the background noise and educate themselves before casting their ballot. 

“I put my faith in the American people to know the right answers,” he said.