Political Elections

Cast your ballot to these questions to find out how much you know about the history of U.S. presidential elections.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

Young voters in the U.S. have a historically low turnout, which means the democracy fails to represent the youth generation. But we talked to five college students voting for POTUS this year who are determined to make a change.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

The U.S. presidential election is just around the corner and the country is in the throws of a global health crisis. Is voting by mail the way to stay safe this election cycle?

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

The date the U.S. president must vacate office is written into the Constitution, election or not. Filling the seat without an election, though, is extremely complicated.

By John Donovan

Why does the Democratic Party have superdelegates who don't have to respect primary results when they cast votes? Is that undemocractic or a hedge against nominating a poor candidate?

By Nathan Chandler

Super Tuesday is the day early in a U.S. presidential primary season when a large number of states hold primaries. It's also the first day when a huge number of delegates are up for grabs.

By Sarah Gleim

Political primaries let voters choose which candidate they want to represent their political party as president. But not everyone is happy with the process. What are the problems, and can they be fixed?

By Josh Clark & Kathryn Whitbourne

A majority of Americans feel that neither of the two main parties is doing a great job, but they can't agree on what a third party would look like. And that candidate faces enormous hurdles to make the debating stage.

By Dave Roos

American presidents are chosen by the electoral college rather than the popular vote. But a measure to circumvent that is gaining steam. So far, 15 states have signed on, but is it constitutional?

By Dave Roos

A handful of other countries have electoral colleges, but they're very different in function and purpose from the one that decides U.S. presidential elections.

By Patrick J. Kiger

If the U.S. vice president must step up and become president, who becomes vice president?

By John Donovan

Now you have no excuse not to vote in the midterms.

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

Federal law doesn't require Americans to have a fixed address in order to vote, but state and local laws often pile on additional restrictions that make it hard for the homeless to cast a ballot.

By Dave Roos

A handful of write-in candidates have been elected to both the U.S. House and Senate, but it's a difficult way to win office.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Sometimes elections are just too close to call. That's when voters have to head back to the polls for a runoff.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Guess which president liked to skinny dip and which one liked petroleum jelly rubbed all over his head every morning.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

Are there alternatives to the winner-take-all voting system? Ranked-choice voting is one, which supporters say would elect more centrist candidates. But critics worry about the downsides.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Apparently kids aren't the only ones influenced by stickers; they work on adults, too.

By Dave Roos

Think the Trump/Biden presidential campaign is the strangest? It'll seem par for the course when you see what crazy things have happened in previous elections.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Splits with the European Union have happened before, but that doesn't mean the U.K.'s Brexit will be easy, or even have much in common with past instances.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Whether it's poll taxes, literacy tests, ID laws or limited polling hours, the U.S. has a long-running history of coming up with ways to restrict citizens' voting rights.

By Patrick J. Kiger & Kathryn Whitbourne

We buy airline tickets, transfer money and look for dates online. Why can't we vote?

By Alia Hoyt

A controversial recent study argues that the order of Google search results could determine an election's outcome. Could that really happen?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Decades ago, two political scientists predicted Americans would ultimately move away from establishment, two-party politics. Were they right, and what makes voters go independent in the first place?

By Cristen Conger

It took just about as much time for the ink to dry on the Declaration of Independence as it did for American politics to become another type of family business. What are 10 of the most successful political dynasties?

By Cristen Conger