Threats and Reforms to U.S. Elections

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel combines papers evaluating recent threats and potential reforms to U.S. democracy, especially its election system. Kuriwaki et al. examine the potential for transparency in election results to inadvertently reveal voters' vote choices. Fraga et al. study the negative consequences of a recent voting restriction in Texas on depressing voter turnout. Atsusaka and Kim examine who people blame for sky-high affective polarization toward members of the other party, which is putting America's democracy under immense strain. Finally, Ferrer examines the effects of recent reforms to primaries on ensuring a large and representative electorate.

Sub Unit

• Division 36: Elections and Voting Behavior

Individual Presentations

• The Still Secret Ballot: Limited Privacy Cost of Transparent Election Results - Shiro Kuriwaki, Yale University; Michael Morse; Jeffrey Lewis, UCLA

• The Downstream Effects of Voter ID Laws: RIDs in Texas - Bernard L. Fraga, Emory University; Kevin Thomas Morris, Brennan Center for Justice; Michael G. Miller, Barnard College

• Who Do People Blame for Affective Polarization? - Seo-young Silvia Kim, Sogang University; Yuki Atsusaka, University of Houston

• The Effect of Partisan Primaries on the Composition of the Electorate - Joshua Ferrer, UCLA

Chair

• Joshua Ferrer UCLA

Discussant

• Christopher Warshaw George Washington University