Almost 92 million eligible Americans did not vote in the 2016 presidential elections. In the 2014 midterm elections, an estimated 143 million eligible Americans failed to vote, marking the lowest voter participation in 72 years. For the nation’s democracy to function properly and for government to provide fair representation, all […] Read more »
2018 may have the largest gender gap on record
… President Donald Trump has a history of making vulgar remarks about women (such as in the infamous Access Hollywood tape). On Thursday, he poked fun at the #MeToo movement. Comments like these are why it’s not too surprising that the 2016 presidential election featured the largest gender gap on […] Read more »
American political behavior firmly outside the norm for consolidated democracies
Our expert survey results in May-June 2018 demonstrate significantly increased threat levels compared to April, with ratings worsening on all six dimensions of democratic performance. … The results give us clear reasons to be concerned about the future of American democracy. May and June saw increases in threat levels across […] Read more »
Voters Think about Voting Machines
… The current nationwide attention to election security has led to a renewed interest in voting technologies and to two topics in particular: (1) the use of computers to cast and count ballots and (2) the age of the equipment and the need to replace machines that were bought in […] Read more »
A Counterattack on Voting Rights
… The United States continues to suffer from some of the lowest turnouts in the developed world. It is one reason that government policy often doesn’t reflect public opinion. … After digging into the research, I’ve come to think that universal vote-by-mail may have the biggest potential to lift turnout. […] Read more »
Americans’ Certainty About Voting This Year Starting Off Low
Fifty-six percent of U.S. adults are currently “absolutely certain” they will vote in the November elections for Congress. That’s on the low side in Gallup’s trend of final pre-election midterm polls since 1954 and is similar to the 58% recorded just before the 2014 midterms, which had the lowest turnout […] Read more »