Talk:Elections in the United States

Presidential elections/Electoral College
This section doesn't cite any sources, and seems to rely on anecdotal evidence. It may also be slanted towards the abolition of the electoral college since it focuses heavily on supposed criticism without noting the counterpoints, ie. if presidential elections were strictly based on plurality of popular vote then states with big populations like California might sweep an election. I think this section should be cleaned up, with citations and a more rounded explanation of the electoral college. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.129.27.141 (talk) 17:36, 6 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Good point! And, of course, the Founding Fathers did this deliberately to enable the small states to ratify the original US Constitution, otherwise there wouldn't be a USA! The media loves the idea, but the small states hate it, so of course, it can't be ratified. I suppose we have to report it because 1) the media raises the issue each election year and 2) the Democrats like it because they would be able to campaign by subway, nevermind all this jetting around! See blue-red by county Student7 (talk) 20:17, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Summarized section replaced
A paragraph reads "The United States has perhaps the most complicated electoral system in the world. Voters are asked to make more decisions and asked to do so more frequently than citizens of other democracies. This Byzantine electoral structure in the US does provide the greatest opportunity for input, but at a cost—by demanding so much of the public it means that many are overwhelmed by the complexity of the system and ultimately fail to vote ("democratic overload").(ref)Anthony Gierzynski, Saving American Elections: A Diagnosis and Prescription for a Healthier Democracy (Cambria Press, 2011).(endref)

I read the citation which says, in its key part:

" Large portions of the public are disengaged and uniformed. Voter turnout is low; in fact, it is even lower than voter turnout in most other democratic nations. The electorate is cynical about elections, politics, and government and appears poorly informed on many important issues and the basics of the American political system. Elections are lacking in the competition necessary to make electoral choices meaningful: lopsided redistricting and unequal distribution of campaign money mean that many races provide voters with no viable choice. When the elections are competitive, the way voters make their choices often renders election outcomes meaningless in terms of actually directing government policy."

It says nothing about "Byzantine", "making more decisions," or "failing to vote." Certainly "more often" is out of place since most Europeans often go to the polls several times a year. There seems to be no connection between the material presented and "failing to vote." There are a number of reasons why people fail to vote, but they don't seem to be listed here.

So I tried to replace it with material which appeared to summarize the reference:

"The electorate seems cynical and poorly informed on important issues. Voter turnout is low. Choices given to the electorate are often not meaningful.(sameref)

It was reverted. Student7 (talk) 23:06, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Governors and Gubernatorial Elections
gives the governors from 1776 and the gubernatorial election returns from 1776 (also the gubernatorial primary election returns from 1919 on pages 1661-1732) if anyone has the time to copy out the details from before 1964 into Wikipedia. Rmallett (talk) 14:08, 17 October 2014 (UTC)


 * The section on waiting times in North Dakota seems like a non sequitur. Ottoump (talk) 20:48, 5 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Agree with Ottoump. Rm material. It can go elsewhere in Wikipedia. Sounds like WP:BOOSTER at this level. Student7 (talk) 01:29, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

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Relevant split discussion
Talk:Postal voting in the United States. --David Tornheim (talk) 22:23, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

"2024 United States House of Representatives elections" listed at Redirects for discussion
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