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During the semester, I shall post course material and students will comment on it. Students are also free to comment on any aspect of American politics, either current or historical. There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges. This blog is on the open Internet, so post nothing that you would not want a potential employer to see. Syllabus: http://gov20h.blogspot.com/2023/08/draft-introduction-to-american-politics.html

Monday, November 7, 2022

Elections I

 For Wed, read After the People Vote, Part I (do not worry: it is short). Available via link and the Sakai resources box.

Party in the Electorate (PIE)



Demographics and the 2020 exit poll

Laws on voting rights

Bush v. Gore:  "The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States unless and until the state legislature chooses a statewide election as the means to implement its power to appoint members of the Electoral College. U. S. Const., Art. II, §1.

But election administration takes place mostly at the state level.

Modes of voting:


What now?

Likely outcome oneDemocrats prevail in California statewide elections.

Likely outcome two: most ballot measures lose.

Likely outcome three: Republicans win a majority in the US House.

Other outcomes are harder to predict because of polling challenges:

Senate tossups: average poll margins (as of this morning)

  • Arizona: Kelly (D) 1.0%
  • Georgia: Walker (R) 0.6%
  • Nevada: Laxalt (R) 2.8%
  • New Hampshire: Hassan (D) 1.0%
  • Ohio: Vance (R) 7.5 % (outlier poll pulled up average)
  • Pennsylvania: Fetterman (D) 0.1%
  • Washington: Murray (D) 3.0%
  • Wisconsin: Johnson (R) 2.8%

If all the tossups go R, Republicans get a net gain of 5.

If all tossups go D, Democrats get a net gain of 3.


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