An source of timely information about the United States electoral system http://elections.gmu.edu Preregistration is a policy that permits young persons to register when they are as young as age 16 so that they are ready to vote when they become voting age. A report on prepregistration programs in Florida and Hawaii - the two states that have run preregistration programs prior to the 2008 election - is now available. These programs are found to successfully register tens of thousands of young people, who remain on the voter rolls and vote. http://elections.gmu.edu/Preregistration_Report.pdf An electronic version of the Midwest Mapping Project is now available. The report shows that seemingly-neutral redistricting criteria have predictable political and racial representation effects that vary among congressional and state legislative districts, even within the same state. Also available here are video clips of a redistricting public education forum held on Oct. 22, 2009 in Chicago, along with other redistricting resources. http://elections.gmu.edu/Redistricting.html In response to the recent NAMUDNO v Holder decision, I argue in this The American Prospect blog post that Congress needs to amend the Voting Rights Act to provide for "proactive" bailout, i.e., that the Department of Justice should review which jurisdictions are eligible for escape from coverage of Section 5 of the Act. http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=06&year=2009&base_name=a_proactive_bailout_for_the_vo The 2008 Current Population Survey, Voting and Registration Supplement data have been released. There are plenty of interesting patterns to observe in this survey, which is the best source for demographic characteristics of the electorate. However, I note that the CPS reports a slight decline in turnout from 2004, which I attribute to survey methodology errors. http://elections.gmu.edu/CPS_2008.html In 2008, the nation experienced a 5.4% increase in registration over 2004, from 177.4 million to 187.0 million registrants. Statistics from the twenty-nine states that have partisan voter registration suggest that the national increase came primarily from Independents and Democrats. Among these twenty-nine states, the number of registrants identifying with the Democratic Party increased 10.8%, compared to 0.5% for Republicans and 12.0% for Independents. http://elections.gmu.edu/Registration_2008G.html Approximately 30% of all votes cast in the 2008 general election were cast prior to Election Day. The statistics and some of the nitty-gritty details behind them can be found here... http://elections.gmu.edu/Early_Voting_2008_Final.html I discuss voter turnout in the long term, increases and decreases among the states from 2004, and some notable trends in the way in which Americans vote in this recap of voter turnout in the 2008 presidential election published in The Forum, an on-line political science journal. http://elections.gmu.edu/The_Forum_2008.html This report offers a sobering assessment of pressing needs facing Virginia's election administrators in terms of basic support such as adequate staff and office space to an ad hoc framework for providing training, compensation and job definitions. http://elections.gmu.edu/VEAS_2008.html All states have now reported their official or certified votes for president. There are some minor outstanding details that may lead to revision of some state numbers slightly upwards. My national turnout rate for those eligible to vote is 61.6% or 131.2 million ballots cast for president. This represents an increase of 1.5 percentage points over the 60.1% turnout rate of 2004. http://elections.gmu.edu/Turnout_2008G.html The Pew Charitable Trusts "Make Voting Work Project" has released a new report with suggestions of how to improve election administration. You can read my contribution on voter registration databases in this report. http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_report_detail.aspx?id=46594 Sen. Saxby Chambliss will likely be pleased with these early vote numbers in the Georgia Senate run-off election that show substantially fewer women and minorities voting early than in the general election. http://elections.gmu.edu/preliminary_vote_2008.html My revised national turnout rate for those eligible to vote is 61.4% or 130.8 million ballots cast for president. http://elections.gmu.edu/preliminary_vote_2008.html My revised national turnout rate for those eligible to vote is 61.2% or 130.4 million ballots cast for president. http://elections.gmu.edu/preliminary_vote_2008.html Millions of people have already cast their ballot for the 2008 presidential election. I'm going to try my best to keep up with these stats... http://elections.gmu.edu/early_vote_2008.html Who are those new people being registered to vote? Who are the people being removed from the voter rolls? http://elections.gmu.edu/voterfile_2008.html