The Legacy of 2020 for How America Votes

Session Submission Type: In-Person Roundtable

Session Description

The 2020 election presented numerous challenges, any one of which would have regarded as an existential threat to the system of elections: voting amid a pandemic, the concerted mis- and disinformation campaign concerning the counting of the votes, and a violent attempt to interfere with its ultimate certification.

Election administration witnessed a shift in election modalities unprecedented in American history. Partisan division over the conduct of the election build early in the year, during the primary season, and then exploded to new heights following the election.

Nearly a year after the election, what can we say about the impact on how elections are conducted in America? Which emergency accommodations have stuck? Which have been rolled back? What is the status of the backlash against mail balloting and other efforts to ease restrictions amid the pandemic? How has the heightened degree of partisanship over election administration and related issues, including voting rights and gerrymandering, played out in Congress and the state legislatures?

This panel will assess the long-term consequences for the American process of voting with nearly a year’s perspective. The panelists all are not only scholars of American elections, public opinion, and election administration, but they all had practical roles to play in the conduct of the election, from assisting local jurisdictions expand vote-by-mail to participating in network “call desks.” Thus, the panel will not only offer perspective aimed at helping define a research agenda for political science in the coming years, but it will offer thoughts about the role of professional political scientists as they work on the business-side of American elections.

Sub Unit

• Division 36: Elections and Voting Behavior

Chair

• Charles Stewart Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Presenters

• Lonna Rae Atkeson Florida State University

• Edward B. Foley Ohio State University

• Paul Gronke Reed College

• Christopher B Mann Skidmore College

• Mindy Romero USC

• Daron R. Shaw University of Texas, Austin