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Elections blog
Comebacks Start the Morning After, Lessons From the Defeats of 1964, 1974, 2008 Three crushing Republican losses were followed by organizing, new arguments and new candidates; some responses paid quickly and some habits slowed recovery. Actual Enumeration, What the Census Clause Requires Every Ten Years The Constitution demands a real count every ten years to divide House seats and electoral votes. What it requires, and the fights since 1790. Calvin Coolidge Started on the Northampton City Council, a Lesson in the Ladder Coolidge climbed every rung from city council to the presidency, and his habits of preparation and restraint are a manual for anyone starting local. The 15th Amendment Promised the Vote and Took Ninety-Five Years to Enforce How the 15th Amendment of 1870 was defeated by literacy tests, poll taxes and grandfather clauses, and why a written right still needs enforcing. The National Popular Vote Compact Is an End Run Around Article II The popular vote compact would abolish the Electoral College in practice without an amendment. Here is its best case, and six numbered answers to it. Federalist 68 Read Closely, Hamilton's Defense of How America Picks a President Hamilton's Federalist 68 read passage by passage against Article II and the Twelfth Amendment, with a verdict on what he got right and what the parties changed. From the Secret Ballot to HAVA, a Timeline of How Americans Came to Vote A dated timeline of how Americans came to vote, from voice voting and party tickets to the secret ballot, the Voting Rights Act, motor voter and HAVA. Purcell v. Gonzalez and Why Judges Should Not Rewrite Election Rules Late In Purcell v. Gonzalez (2006) the Supreme Court told lower courts not to upend election rules weeks before voting. Here is the case, its reach and its critics. Eight Myths About Election Rules That Both Parties Repeat Every Cycle Both sides repeat claims about how elections work that the law and the record do not support. Eight tested against the text, each with a verdict. Election Day or Election Month, the Case for Tight Mail-Ballot Rules Mail voting serves real needs, but deadlines, signature checks and ballot handling decide whether results arrive fast and are trusted. Here is the policy case. Clean Voter Rolls Are a Legal Duty, What the 1993 Motor Voter Law Requires The Motor Voter law is famous for easy registration, but Section 8 also orders states to remove voters who died or moved. Here is the duty and the process. The Case for Photo ID at the Polls, Answered Point by Point Against Its Critics A photo ID rule is modest, was upheld in Crawford v. Marion County (2008) and rests on confidence and administration. The argument, the objection, the answer. Why the President's Party Almost Always Loses the Midterm, and the Exceptions The president's party loses House seats in nearly every midterm. The arithmetic, three competing explanations, and what 1934, 1998 and 2002 had in common. Five Conservative Comebacks Side by Side, and the Ingredient They All Shared Set 1966, 1980, 1994, 2010 and 2014 in one table. The common thread is a clear argument against an overreaching majority, new candidates and volunteers. Seven Myths About the Electoral College That Fall Apart Against the Record Seven popular charges against the Electoral College, tested against Madison's notes, Federalist 68 and the text of Article II. None survives. The Election of 1800 Broke the Electoral College and the 12th Amendment Fixed It In 1800 a tie between Jefferson and his own running mate sent the presidency to the House for 36 ballots, and the 12th Amendment repaired the flaw. From Lost Senate Races to a Majority, What 2014 Learned From 2010 and 2012 Republicans missed the Senate twice with the wind at their backs, then gained nine seats in 2014. The difference was candidates, primaries and message. The Committee of Eleven Invented the Electoral College in the Final Weeks The Convention voted again and again to let Congress pick the president, until a committee in September 1787 proposed electors chosen by each state. Natural Born Citizen, the Phrase the Founders Borrowed and Never Defined The Constitution requires the president to be a natural born citizen, a phrase adopted without debate and never squarely defined by the Supreme Court. Two Years After Goldwater, the 1966 Midterm That Put the Right Back in It The 1964 landslide was called the end of conservatism. In 1966 Republicans gained 47 House seats and a first-time candidate named Reagan took California. Had Enough? The 1946 Midterm That Ended Sixteen Years in the Wilderness Republicans won both chambers in 1946 on two words and the price of meat, then learned that winning an argument is not the same as keeping the majority.