Hello election law community! We have been on summer break and are now returning. Starting next Monday we will be regularly posting on Mondays and Wednesdays during the academic year (other than holiday breaks). Thank you for following State of Elections, and please continue to comment and share!
All States
Summer Hiatus
As school is out of session, the blog will be on summer hiatus until the start of the 2019-2020 academic year. Thank you to all of our bloggers and readers for a great year!
Republicans Remain the Majority Party in Georgia; But all is Not Gloom and Doom for Georgia Democrats
After a highly touted 2018 campaign season which led to historic numbers of early votes in the State of Georgia, it appears that the Republicans will continue to control both the state legislature and executive branch. Additionally, a majority of the state’s Federal House seats went to Republican candidates. But all is not gloom and doom for Georgia Democrats, the Democratic Party did gain eight seats in the State House (six of which were from Republican incumbents), two seats in the State Senate, and one seat in the Federal House.
Negative Campaigns in the U.S. and Voter Turnout
By: Yang Cao
The United States, as the world leader (for democratic countries at least), may excel in many fields, but in terms of voter turnout it trails far behind other industrialized countries. The voter turnout measured in terms of voting age population was only 55.7% in 2016, while the highest countries report that more than 80% of the voting age population actually votes. Studies show that demographics like education, income and age can help predict voter turnout; but, these factors cannot be the cause of such huge discrepancies in voter turnout between U.S. and countries that have highest voter turnout, as the U.S. should have similar demographics to those countries. On the other hand, some studies have concluded that, while the U.S. and countries like Sweden might have similar demographic, the U.S. has far more negative campaigns than Sweden and other European countries, and that rising negative campaign in the past decades is solely an American phenomenon. Given these facts, it is only natural to ask why politicians have to use negative campaigns instead of positive campaigns, which does not hammer voter turnout. Researchers have also proven that negative campaigns are more effective than positive ones, which means kind persuasion will not stop politicians from doing so. Meanwhile, outlawing negative campaigns is also unrealistic because of it would be content based and subject to strict scrutiny.
[Read more…] about Negative Campaigns in the U.S. and Voter Turnout
Sweet 16: Teens Fight to Lower the Voting Age Across the Nation
By: Shawn Syed
During Spring Break in Oregon, a group of teens did not go on vacation. Instead, they took to the Oregon State Capital to speak with lawmakers about lowering the voting age to 16. Hundreds of teens spoke out in an attempt to shape their own future. The teens stressed gun control and climate change as two major issues they want to have a voice in.
[Read more…] about Sweet 16: Teens Fight to Lower the Voting Age Across the Nation