ELECTIONS & VOTING PART 2

Question 1

What are important qualities of congressional (HOR) elections?

Answer 1

1. The candidates are less visible and receive less media coverage; thus, they need good name recognition to get votes.
2. 90% of congressional districts are noncompetitive, making the dominant party of a district the most likely winner.
3. Candidates usually have prior experience in state legislatures.

Question 2

What are incumbents’ advantages in elections?

Answer 2

1. For HOR incumbents, they are extremely likely to be reelected because they greatly participate in their districts (e.g. town halls), are highly visible in comparison to their challengers, have easier access to the local media.
2. Incumbents across all levels of government are likely to be reelected.
3. The “Franking Privilege”, in which incumbents get free postage for official business.
4. Good constituency service. If they give good service to their constituents before elections, their constituents are more likely to vote for them.

Question 3

Why is voter turnout low?

Answer 3

1. People claim that they are too busy, have difficulty registering, have difficulty absentee voting.
2. The number of elections are overwhelming.
3. Voters are pessimistic about their vote’s impact on elections.
4. The average voter is not fully dedicated to their party and thus have no incentive to vote.
5. Voters who have late primaries feel that their vote does not matter.
6. Most states are not battleground states; thus, voters in both political parties feel like their vote does not have any impact.
7. Disenfranchisement, such as fewer resources for minority voting districts and political gerrymandering (which is in practice racial gerrymandering).

Question 4

How many states and electoral votes did Biden win in the 2020 presidential election?

Answer 4

25 states + D.C., 306 electoral votes

Question 5

How many states and electoral votes did Trump win in the 2020 presidential election?

Answer 5

25 states, 232 electoral votes

Question 6

What were important factors to Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election?

Answer 6

1. Biden won the “Blue Wall” (Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania).
2. Biden also won Arizona and Georgia, previously Republican states.

Question 7

Which demographics (including some intersectionalities) voted Democrat?

Answer 7

1. women
2. Black people
3. Hispanic people
4. Asian people
5. voters ages 18-29
6. voters ages 30-44
7. college graduates
8. voters with a total family income <$100,000
9. Catholics
10. first year voters
11. larger cities
12. suburbs
13. voters who thought that U.S. efforts to control the pandemic were going badly
14. Black women
15. independents

Question 8

Which demographics (including intersectionalities) voted Republican?

Answer 8

1. men
2. White people
3. voters ages 45-64
4. 65+
5. voters without a college degree
6. Protestants
7. voters with a total family income >$100,000
8. small cities and rural areas
9. White men

Question 9

What was the voter turnout percentage of the 2020 presidential election and what is significant about this number?

Answer 9

66.5%, the highest percentage of voter turnout in the last century