AFSCME Information Highway

Source: William H. Frey, Brookings Institution, February 2008

From the summary:
One of the most profound changes in America's demography this century will be its shifting race and ethnic makeup. The rise of immigration from Latin America and Asia, the higher fertility of some minorities and the slow growth of America's aging white population will have profound impacts on the nation's demographic profile, with important implications for the electorate. The significance of these changes on identity politics, new racial coalitions and reactions to immigration have already been seen in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes. Yet, these shifts are only the tip of the iceberg of what can be expected in future election cycles as Hispanic, Asian, and Black Americans make up ever larger shares of the electorate.

This chapter discusses the shifts playing out in 2008, but with an eye toward what they will mean in the future. It begins by examining the magnitude of new minority population growth, how it differs from past election cycles, and the lag that immigrant minorities experience in translating their growth into actual voting power. It then goes on to discuss how these groups differ from each other on basic social and demographic profiles and on key political issues, with special emphasis on immigration.

▪ Tables and graphs
▪ Full presentation

Posted by Info Center at 6:03 PM in Elections | Immigration | Permalink

Source: Brookings Institution, 2008

This series of charts, compiled by Brookings Institution experts, outline the candidates' positions on the most critical topics facing America's next President. The topics were chosen by Brookings staff and the indices will be published throughout the 2008 Presidential election cycle.

▪ Immigration
▪ Climate Change
▪ Trade

Posted by Info Center at 10:46 AM in Elections | Politics | Permalink

Source: U.S. Census, 2008

A look at the population, selected characteristics and 2004 voting percentage of each state as it approaches its 2008 primary or caucus.
● Census Bureau Releases State Estimates of Voting-Age Population
● Elections (The 2008 Statistical Abstract)
● Fact For Features: The 2008 Presidential Election
● State Factsheets

Posted by Info Center at 11:11 AM in Elections | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Robert J. Blendon, Drew E. Altman, Claudia Deane, John M. Benson, Mollyann Brodie, and Tami Buhr, New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 358 no. 4, January 24, 2008

For the first time since 1928, neither the Democratic nor the Republican party has an incumbent president or vice president among the candidates in its field, so both primaries are particularly open to all challengers and very competitive. In this article, we report findings from public opinion polls that assessed how health care issues might affect voters' choices in the 2008 presidential primaries.

This article examines the role of health care in the 2008 presidential primary elections in two ways. First, it draws on data from multiple opinion surveys to better understand how Republicans and Democrats differ in their values, beliefs, and attitudes with regard to health care and health care policy. Second, it focuses particularly on voters who say they are going to participate in the early Democratic and Republican primaries and caucuses, looking at differences in their health care preferences and the extent to which the health care issue is affecting their vote.

Finally, we explore how the differences in views and desires concerning health care among Republicans and Democrats are reflected in the kinds of proposals being put forward by the major candidates, and we assess the ways in which these divisions might affect the general-election campaign.
See also:
The Amazing Noncollapsing U.S. Health Care System -- Is Reform Finally at Hand?

Posted by Info Center at 1:32 PM in Elections | Health Reform | Politics | Permalink

Source: New Labor Forum, Fall 2007
By David Moberg

With last year's Democratic takeover of Congress, and growing public support for both the Democrats and for progressive ideas, the odds are looking good for a Democratic victory sweep next year. After two terms of Bush, the labor movement can at least breathe a sigh of relief at that prospect. But the labor movement needs more than such a victory. It needs to create a social movement that can turn this opportunity into a long-term campaign to give working people more power, more security, more opportunities to realize their potential, and a greater share of the nation's prosperity.

Posted by Info Center at 2:06 PM in Elections | Permalink

Source: FairVote

Iowa Democratic Caucus

Quick Facts:
• If a Democratic candidate doesn't reach the threshold of support necessary to win delegates (typically 15 percent, but sometimes higher) at a particular caucus, the candidate's supporters usually switch to their second choice.
• Republicans choose candidates by secret ballot, but for Iowa Democrats, there are no ballots. All caucusing is done by physically standing with fellow supporters.
• The number of delegates up for grabs depends on how many Democrats voted in each precinct in the last gubernatorial and presidential elections.
• We may never know the raw vote count in the Democratic caucuses, or how the vote count changed after second choices come into play.
• The number of voters could be very small. In 2004, only 125,000 people participated in the Iowa caucus. On January 3, 2008, some sports fans may be lured away from the caucuses by the Orange Bowl, starting at 7 pm Iowa time.

Posted by Info Center at 10:17 AM in Elections | Permalink

Source: Campaign Finance Institute

From press release:
Access to state-level candidate campaign disclosure data continued to improve in states across the country, according to Grading State Disclosure 2007, a comprehensive evaluation of campaign finance disclosure laws and programs in the 50 states. The 2007 study, released today by the California Voter Foundation, found that Washington State ranks first in the nation in campaign disclosure, while Oregon ranked as the most improved state in 2007.

The assessment was conducted by the Campaign Disclosure Project, which seeks to bring greater transparency and accountability to money in state politics. The project is a collaboration of the California Voter Foundation, the Center for Governmental Studies and the UCLA School of Law and is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Executive Summary
Full Report (PDF; 943 KB)
State by State Summaries and Rankings

Posted by Info Center at 9:10 AM in Elections | Permalink

Source: National Institute on Money in State Politics

While voters may have the final say on ballot measures when they vote "yea" or "nea" at the ballot box, they have little to do with the funding of those measures. In 2006, only 23 percent of the $648 million raised to support or oppose ballot measures came from individuals, a new report finds.

And, only 15 donors gave most of that $147.5 million provided by individuals, according to the report by the National Institute on Money in State Politics stated. Businesses and special interests provided the lion's share of funding for the measures, giving nearly $444.7 million. Labor organizations contributed another $48.2 million, while unitemized contributions -- those that fall under the states' reporting threshold for providing donor information -- came to $3.3 million. The remaining $4.7 million came from party, candidate and leadership committees.

The 2006 election also saw a jump in the number of measures faced by voters: 219 measures appeared in 37 states, almost double the 111 measures in 28 states in 2004.

California led the pack in expensive campaigns, generating $359 million for 15 measures and accounting for more than half of the $648 million raised nationwide. One measure accounted for much of the money in California; Proposition 87, which would have imposed a profit tax on energy companies, drew $153.9 million in political donations.

Posted by Info Center at 2:12 PM in Elections | Permalink

Source: Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com, October 9, 2007

A political Web site set to launch on Tuesday plans to become a kind of Wikipedia-like destination specializing in elections, governments, and political candidates.

The idea behind PoliticalBase.com is to provide a neutral, one-stop source of information about politics (and politicians) to which anyone can contribute. Changes must be approved by a staff editor before they take effect.
Related sites:
From the Center for Media and Democracy:
• PRWatch
• Coming this Week in Congress
• SourceWatch
• The 2008 U.S. Congressional Elections Portal
• U.S. presidential election, 2008
• Congresspedia
• TobaccoWiki
See also:
• Beta of LOUIS (Library Of Unified Information Sources) Database
• Citizendium

Posted by Info Center at 5:20 PM in Elected Officials | Elections | Government | Politics | Permalink

Source: Richard Nadler, America's Majority, October 2007

The foundation's newest study, involving 145 precincts and 175,000 votes, analyzes actual vote shifts in Hispanic portions of six congressional districts in the 2004 and 2006 elections.

Posted by Info Center at 5:57 PM in Elections | Immigration | Permalink

Source: The American National Election Studies, University of Michigan, Center for Political Studies, 2007

The Guide provides immediate access to tables and graphs that display the ebb and flow of public opinion, electoral behavior, and choice in American politics over time. It serves as a resource for political observers, policy makers, and journalists, teachers, students, and social scientists. The Guide currently contains data from 1948 through 2004.

Posted by Info Center at 4:28 PM in Elections | Politics | Permalink

Source: Federal Election Commission

From the press release:
...automated email updates for a variety of campaign finance information. The new service will allow users to sign-up to receive notification whenever information important to them is added or changed on the Commission's site...With a single click, users can now register to receive updates for one or more specific pages at fec.gov including news releases, support for committee treasurers, updates on Commission decisions, etc. The system allows people to keep track of FEC actions in real time without receiving unwanted email about subjects not directly of interest.
Some RSS is also available.

Posted by Info Center at 11:25 AM in Elections | Permalink

Source: Donald W. Beachler, WorkingUSA, Vol. 10 no. 3, September 2007
(subscription required)

The conservative political preferences of many working class Americans have been the subject of much academic and popular analysis in recent years. This article investigates the voting behavior of union household residents in the 2004 presidential election. The source for this information is national and state exit polls from the 2004 election. There has been much debate about whether white working class support of Republicans is rooted in conservative cultural values. Despite ardent opposition by the Bush administration to the goals of organized labor, 46 percent of white voters who resided in union households voted Republican in the 2004 presidential election. The impact of race, religion, and gun ownership on the voting choice of labor households is investigated in an effort to provide an understanding of conservative voting by so many households affiliated with an interest group that is at odds with the Republicans.

Posted by Info Center at 5:44 PM in Elections | Labor Unions | Permalink

Source: Lawrence Norden, Aaron Burstein, Joseph Lorenzo Hall
and Margaret Chen, Samuelson Law, Technology, & Public Policy Clinic/Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of Law, 2007

From press release:
The Samuelson Clinic has co-authored with the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law the first comprehensive review of state laws and academic research on audits designed to check the integrity of electronic voting systems.

The report, "Post Elections Audits: Restoring Trust in Elections," finds that most states are not doing enough to use post-election audits of paper trails to ensure that electronic voting is secure and accurate. Taking account of the wide variations in the organization of election jurisdictions around the country, "Restoring Trust in Elections" outlines goals and methods for conducting cost-effective, rigorous audits that will help guard against programming errors as well as malicious attacks against electronic voting systems.

See also:
Clinic's Electronic Voting Research Helps To Advance Election Integrity
Legal Issues Facing Election Officials in an Electronic-Voting World

Posted by Info Center at 11:12 AM in Elections | Permalink

Source: U.S. Election Assistance Commission, August 2007

From news release:
The United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has released two best practices guidebooks to help election officials recruit, train, and retain poll workers. The two guidebooks are: "Successful Practices for Poll Worker Recruitment, Training and Retention" and "A Guidebook for Recruiting College Poll Workers."

"Elections are becoming more complicated because of new federal and state laws, new procedures and new technical and security requirements for voting equipment," said EAC Chair Donetta Davidson. "The need for trained poll workers is more urgent than ever, and we hope these guidebooks will help election officials find and keep good poll workers as well as recruit a new generation of poll workers."

The guidebooks entailed a fifteen month development process involving two working groups and dozens of interviews and focus groups with election officials, voters and veteran poll workers. Draft versions of each guidebook were field-tested at six sites during the 2006 elections. The guidebooks were reviewed by the EAC's Standards Board and Board of Advisors during a virtual public meeting last month.

See also:
• Compendium of State Poll Worker Requirements

Posted by Info Center at 5:05 PM in Elections | Permalink

Source: Monideepa Talukdar, Rob Richie, and Ryan O'Donnell, FairVote,
August 9, 2007

From abstract:
This paper analyzes two of the three major options available to state leaders interested in taking action to reform how their state allocates its Electoral College votes: the whole number proportional and congressional district systems. It evaluates them on the basis of whether they promote majority rule, make elections more nationally competitive, reduce incentives for partisan machinations, and make all votes count equally. We use vote returns from a number of previous elections to analyze what the outcomes would have been if Electoral College votes had been allocated according to the whole number proportional and the congressional district systems.

Our analysis reveals that both of these methods fail to meet our criteria. Neither reform option promotes majority rule, greater competitiveness, or voter equality. Pursued at a state level, both reforms dramatically increase incentives for partisan machinations. If done nationally, the congressional district system has a sharp partisan tilt toward the Republican Party. The whole number proportional system sharply increases the odds of contingent elections (the selection of president by Congress).

Posted by Info Center at 4:24 PM in Elections | Permalink

Source: National Atlas

The National Atlas prepared simple maps of each District of the 110th Congress (January 2005-January 2007). These maps of the individual districts cover half of an 8.5- by 11-inch paper when printed. Designed for easy reference, they show the Congressional District overlaid on top of State and county boundaries along with interstate and US highways, selected streams and waterbodies, and major cities. The maps were created for use on the World Wide Web but print well using your home or office printer.

Posted by Info Center at 11:46 AM in Elections | Permalink

Source: National Institute on Money in State Politics, August 1, 2007

From press release:
Political expenditures made from outside official campaigns amounted to more than $115 million in just five states, a new study found, evidence of how powerful so-called independent expenditures are becoming in state politics. Compiling a comprehensive total of such expenditures for all 50 states is virtually impossible, a companion report notes, because of inadequate reporting requirements in most states.

While 39 states require some form of disclosure for individuals or groups making these expenditures in state elections, only Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine and Washington disclose the information in a way that the public can easily access and use, the National Institute on Money in State Politics discovered.

The first report, “Independent Expenditures, 2006” investigates spending on independent expenditures in the five states where data was readily obtainable, while “Indecent Disclosure” discusses problems with obtaining meaningful data on independent expenditures from the various state disclosure agencies. Taken together, the reports reveal the extensive impact of independent expenditures on the political process and the patchwork nature of disclosure laws regulating independent expenditures in the states.

Posted by Info Center at 12:18 PM in Elections | Permalink

Source: Kathryn Clabby, OMB Watch, August 2007

From press release:
OMB Watch today released a new report on the role of nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations in elections. How Nonprofits Helped America Vote: 2006 clearly illustrates that the work of nonprofits is critical in increasing civic participation throughout the country and fostering vibrant, engaged communities. The report focuses solely on so-called 501(c)(3) organizations and does not cover the activities of special interest associations or 527 political committees.

Though 501(c)(3) organizations are prohibited from taking sides in elections, they are allowed educate voters, register people to vote and work to increase voter turnout. The report describes nonprofits’ electoral engagement during the 2006 election season and the groups’ preparations for upcoming elections. The publication highlights how the nonpartisan groups are defending voters’ rights against suppression and intimidation, and it includes an analysis of new voter ID requirements and attempts to limit voter registration drives. The report also describes how nonprofits are working to protect the integrity of our elections and surveys voter engagement and mobilization efforts.

Posted by Info Center at 11:09 AM in Elections | Permalink