Election news and analysis from The Daily Signal, featuring reporting, commentary, and conservative insights on campaigns, candidates, and ballot issues.
Elections have become theater. By regularly promising the impossible, political candidates give the dangerous impression that salvation is only one bill, one policy solution away. It breeds impatience, impetuosity and ecstatic hopes in citizens. And it can make us bad voters. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton had a different understanding of voting than we currently…
In the past few months, a former police chief in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to voter fraud in a town-council election. That fraud had flipped the outcome of a primary election. Former Connecticut legislator Christina Ayala has been indicted on 19 charges of voter fraud, including voting in districts where she didn’t reside. (She hasn’t entered…
An amendment on the ballot in New Mexico could pave the way for taxpayers saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in school elections across the state. But critics say the wording of Constitutional Amendment 1 on the Nov. 4 ballot may so confuse voters they may end up simply skipping the question or even inadvertently…
America’s political operatives are spread across the land fighting for their candidates, from the frosty U.S. Senate race in Alaska to the red-hot governor’s race in Florida. But if control of the Senate hangs in the balance after Tuesday’s midterm elections—and multiple scenarios suggest it could—then most of those operatives will be bound for Louisiana…
In a sign that Republican efforts to target the youth vote is paying off, a new poll finds a majority of young Americans who intend to vote next week prefer a Republican-controlled Congress. >>> This Spunky College Intern Is the Face of the New Republican Ground Game A survey released yesterday by Harvard Institute of…
Are non-citizens potentially voting in Tuesday’s election? Yes, according to Old Dominion University Professors Jesse Richman and David Earnest, who wrote an article for The Washington Post highlighting their findings: Most non-citizens do not register, let alone vote. But enough do that their participation can change the outcome of close races. Because non-citizens tended to…
With little time before the midterm election, the decisions in the courts, including the Supreme Court, on the procedural rules that will govern the election keep coming on an almost daily basis. This has been pretty much the norm since the 2000 elections, as liberals and progressives have used the courts — rather than the…
LAS VEGAS — Your next representative in Congress could end up being, well, somebody like Mike Monroe, if something isn’t done about the electoral system, critics say. Fed up with voting machine discrepancies, some folks are taking matters into their own hands and are organizing grassroots efforts to reduce voter fraud and electoral errors. Citizen…
With Colorado a state that could shift the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, many an eye is on the matchup between the incumbent Democat, Sen. Mark Udall, and his Republican challenger, Rep. Cory Gardner. Colorado also is one of three states conducting “all mail” voting this year, meaning registered voters get a ballot…
If you live in America today and you believe things are terrific, you’re … well … deeply in the minority. According to a new Politico poll, despair grips the land. Half the people in the country believe we are on the “wrong track.” Barely a fifth say we are on the right track. And 64…
The Texas voter ID law, which was effective in November 2013 statewide constitutional elections, will be in place for the Nov. 4 mid-term election, representing a big win for voters and election integrity in Texas. On Saturday, the Supreme Court rejected an emergency petition filed by the NAACP and refused to overrule the Fifth Circuit…
In the run-up to the Nov. 4 midterm elections, the courts have weighed in on voting rules, both supporting and rebuking efforts by Republican state governments to prevent fraud. The Supreme Court last week upheld a North Carolina voting law that bars same-day registration and doesn’t allow the counting of votes cast in the wrong…
As Election Day approaches, Republicans are focusing too much effort on buying television ads, warned George Will on Fox News’ Special Report last night. Will said that voters have been “saturated” by political ads, and that the “utility” of these dollars may be overestimated. “The return on ‘get out the vote’ may be much larger,”…
Electronic signatures on voter registration forms from third parties may pose risks, one advocate for fair elections says, but there’s more to be worried about in his state leading up to the Nov. 4 elections. In late September, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring gave the legal green light to the state’s Norfolk Electoral Board to accept electronic signatures…
MIAMI—As Election Day nears, absentee ballot fraud will likely be in Florida’s news headlines once again. Carolina Lopez, spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Department of Elections, said staff there can determine if the person requesting a ballot is the one who actually receives it but can’t control what happens to the ballot after that. “It is…
Previously unpublished data from the last big election in Burlington, Vt., reveals a significant number of votes were cast by individuals whose names were not on the statewide checklist. In the 2012 presidential election, 17,383 votes were cast in Burlington, according to city-published data. According to data not published by the city, but made available…
With less than a month until the 2014 elections, candidates on both sides are relying on top donors to fund their campaign operations. The Center for Responsive Politics calculated the amount of money individuals have contributed to federal candidates, parties, political action committees, 527 organizations, super PACs and Carey committees. Of the top six donors,…
With the 2014 midterm elections mere weeks away, Vote Smart—a national, non-partisan research organization—is offering voters new services that, according to U.S. News & World Report, “would make the Founders weep with joy.” Marketed as “The Voter’s Self-Defense System,” Vote Smart is a group of conservatives and liberals who have compiled thousands of hours of…
AUGUSTA, Maine—Outspoken and under fire, Republican Gov. Paul LePage is in danger of losing his re-election bid. One of the most conservative governors in the country, LePage triangulated his way to victory in 2010 with 38 percent of the vote. Independent candidate Eliot Cutler, who siphoned enough Democratic support to give LePage the victory, is…
Two weeks after receiving a chorus of boos from a Washington gathering of Middle Eastern Christians, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today delivered a biblically inspired speech invoking an Old Testament psalm and calling on social conservatives to hold their values and religious convictions near when faced with adversity. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy…