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Archive | Elections
Gary Johnson on Ballot in 47 States
Politico reports that Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson is on the ballot in 47 states and the District of Columbia. In 2008, former Rep. Bob Barr was on the ballot in 45 states. The Libertarian Party is still seeking to place Johnson on the ballot in the remaining three states.
Why It’s Likely to be a Close Election Decided by Ignorant Swing Voters
In this recent column, political analyst Sean Trende explains why the current state of the economy is likely to lead to a very close election in November. Various pundits have suggested that Romney should be doing much better in the polls, given the weak economy. Romney is indeed a far from inspiring candidate. But, as […]
Can the Missouri GOP Pull a Torricelli?
Missouri GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin may have won the party primary, but his idiotic and offensive comments about rape and pregnancy have caused party leaders to question his candidacy. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have both suggested that Akin step aside. But can he do that? According […]
Public Ignorance About Paul Ryan
Political scientists John Sides and Lynn Vavreck have a helpful post summarizing survey data showing that most of the public knows little or nothing about newly selected GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan: A series of polls done by YouGov for the Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project suggests that most people have never heard of Paul […]
Paul Ryan May be About to be Named the GOP Vice Presidential Nominee
Mitt Romney is about to name Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his vice presidential nominee, at least according to various highly plausible leaks. If the rumors are true, I am happy with the pick on policy grounds. Ryan is very knowledgeable about economic policy and spending, and he has a genuine commitment to cutting federal […]
Peter Orszag’s Case for Compulsory Voting
By Ilya Somin on June 24, 2012 11:05 am in Democracy, Elections, Political Ignorance, Public Opinion
In a recent op ed, former Obama adviser and Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag argues that the the United States should make voting compulsory: The U.S. prides itself as the beacon of democracy, but it’s very likely no U.S. president has ever been elected by a majority of American adults. It’s our […]
Why Partisans Overstate their Candidates’ Chances of Winning
At the Right Coast, University of San Diego law professor Tom Smith asks an interesting question. Why do partisans overstate their party’s chance of winning an election? After all, as Smith notes, doing so may lead to complacency: A question — take a biased media outlet, for example NPR, which I listen to a lot. […]
Citizens United and the Wisconsin Recall
By Jonathan H. Adler on June 12, 2012 7:42 am in Elections, First Amendment, Restrictions on Campaign Contrbs. and Expenses
In yesterday’s WSJ, Stanford’s Michael McConnell explained why progressives should not blame the Supreme Court’s Citizens United for Governor Walker’s victory over the union-backed recall effort. If anything, Citizens United helped those trying to oust the controversial governor, as unions put far more money into the recall election than did corporations. Governor Walker may have […]
Vote — or Else
A recent mailing to Wisconsin voters from an outfit called the Grater Wisconsin Committee lists the recipient’s neighbors and details who has (and has not) voted in order to encourage neighborly pressure on those who’ve failed to make it to the ballot box. UPDATE: It turns out the design of this mailing has an academic […]
Clarence Thomas for President Revisited
UCLA law professor Adam Winkler has an op ed arguing that the Republicans should nominate Clarence Thomas for president. Back in 2010, I explained why this is a bad idea, in response to a similar proposal by Kashmir Hill and David Lat. My reasons apply with equal force to Winkler’s argument: I see a few […]
For and Against Voter ID — Exaggeration All Around
Rick Hasen previews portions of his forthcoming book, The Voting Wars, on the Election Law Blog and in this excerpt. Among other things, Hasen argues that there is little evidence of significant in-person voter fraud of the sort that would justify strict voter ID laws. At the same time, there is little evidence that the […]
The Dead Are Registered, But Do They Vote?
A new report from the Pew Center on the States finds widespread irregularities and inaccuracies in voter registration rolls, including nearly two million dead people who remain registered to vote. As the NYT reports, approximately one-in-eight active voter registrations is “invalid or inaccurate.” From the NYT: The report found that there are about 1.8 million dead […]
A Vote Fraud Conviction in Indiana
Indiana Secretary of State Charles White was convicted of voter fraud, among other charges, this week for lying about this address on voter registration forms and voting in the wrong precinct. White apparently continued to use his ex-wife’s address for his voter registration after they split, in part, because he didn’t want to lose a […]
Non-Citizen Voters in Florida
There’s much speculation and debate over whether non-citizens and others who are ineligible vote in U.S. elections, but relatively few documented instances. That makes this report by a local television station in Fort Myers, Florida all the more significant. The station’s investigation uncovered nearly one hundred non-citizens who were registered to vote, and several admitted to […]