Departments

;

elections

  • 2/27/2022

    Irwin Gellman Asks: Did JFK Steal Victory in the "Campaign of the Century"?

    by Justin P. Coffey

    Irwin Gellman's latest volume in his political history of Nixon argues the 1960 election returns in Illinois and Texas were rigged for Kennedy. A reviewer finds the case is intriguing but falls short of solid proof, though it does resonate with charges of stolen elections and media favoritism that are all too familiar today. 

  • SOURCE: Substack
    1/17/2022

    Of Course the Federal Government Can Regulate Elections

    by Heather Cox Richardson

    The Constitution not only enables, but requires the federal government to act when state authority violates the principles of democracy, something President Harry Truman realized in 1946.

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    10/13/2021

    Gaming Elections is a Conservative Political Tradition

    by John S. Huntington

    "Conservatives have spent generations attempting to exploit arcane and anti-democratic electoral structures to carve a pathway for minoritarian rule."

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    9/7/2021

    Too Often, Politicians Pick Their Voters

    by Warren E. Milteer Jr.

    Political factions and then organized parties have fought over the size, composition and geographical ordering of the electorate since the founding. This legacy today undermines the legitimacy of government and the political will to protect the right to vote. 

  • SOURCE: The Yale Review
    11/15/2020

    The Wondrous Banality of Democracy

    by John Witt

    A professor of law and legal history volunteered as a ballot counting observer in Pennsylvania and offers a reflection on the unspectacular nature of democracy in action. 

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    11/8/2020

    Elections Don’t Have to Be So Chaotic and Excruciating

    by Stephen I. Vladeck

    A uniform procedure for publicizing the vote count can eliminate the chaos of haphazard vote counts and remove the opportunity for candidates to portray the normal process of counting votes as irregular or crooked. 

  • SOURCE: The Conversation
    11/4/2020

    An Embarrassing Failure for Election Pollsters

    by W. Joseph Campbell

    Pollsters problems predicting the 2020 election deepened the embarrassment for a field that has suffered through – but has survived – a variety of lapses and surprises since the mid-1930s. 

  • SOURCE: NPR
    10/22/2020

    Throughline: How We Vote

    In this episode, the process of voting; how it was originally designed, who it was intended for, moments in our country's history when we reimagined it altogether, and what we're left with today.

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    10/24/2020

    How to Steal an Election

    by Jon Grinspan

    Many of our election rules date from that moment, around 1900, when Americans redirected their “love of smart dealings” toward tightening up electoral systems, rather than finding ways around them.  

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/nyregion/nyc-vo

    Inside Decades of Nepotism and Bungling at the N.Y.C. Elections Board

    “I expect the B.O.E. to pull this off — there’s no other option. It’s the most important election of our lifetime,” said Scott Stringer, the city comptroller. “But we shouldn’t have to hold our breath because of their gross incompetence.”

  • SOURCE: Iowa Public Radio
    10/6/2020

    A History Of October Surprises (audio)

    Although Trump's COVID diagnosis was, perhaps, unexpected, October Surprises have historically involved presidents announcing policy initiatives to improve their reelection prospects. Presidential historians Tim Naftali and Tim Walch discuss.

  • SOURCE: Made By History at The Washington Post
    10/5/2020

    Holding an Election During the Civil War Set the Standard for Us Today

    by Jonathan W. White

    “We can not have free government without elections,” Lincoln told the crowd, “and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.”