It’s an off-year, and turnout is expected to be low. There’s no Obama, Clinton, or Bush on the ballot. It’s the dead of summer, and no one turns out for primaries. Oh, it’s Hollywood. Yet another special election. All of those have been justifications in a year that has seen […] Read more »
‘Missing Voters’ in the 2012 Election: Not so white, not so Republican
Do “missing white voters” offer hope for the Republican Party in future presidential elections? … We have argued that the “missing white voters” theory is unrealistic for several reasons. The most important is that it ignores the missing nonwhite voters — data on voter turnout in 2012 show that a […] Read more »
The Decline of Black Power in the South
To understand the depth of the damage that the Supreme Court’s June 25 decision, Shelby County v. Holder, has inflicted on the voting rights of African-Americans, you have to measure it against the backdrop of the takeover of state legislatures, primarily in the South, by the Republican Party. … The […] Read more »
Many Criticize Voting Rights Ruling; Partisan Splits on Gay Marriage Continue
Americans across racial groups are critical of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act, with disapproval of the decision exceeding approval by 15 percentage points among whites as well as by a vast 45-point margin among African-Americans. Overall, just 33 percent of Americans approve of the ruling dismantling […] Read more »
Washington Post-ABC poll shows support for Supreme Court rulings on gay marriage
Most Americans think the Supreme Court got it right last week in decisions that bolstered same-sex marriage, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The court in a 5 to 4 ruling struck down a key component of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which withheld federal recognition […] Read more »
Support for gay marriage hits high after ruling
A record majority of Americans approve of same-sex marriage in the wake of two landmark Supreme Court decisions, a USA TODAY poll finds. But the high court’s rulings that struck down provisions of the Voting Rights Act and tightened the rules on affirmative action aren’t in sync with the public’s […] Read more »