Elections 2008
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Contents |
Results
Most of the web sites in the General Web Pages section will now have results, but some quick links are below:
CNN. Includes a map that allows you to drill down to the county level, very comprehensive exit polls, and ballot measures.
New York Times Election Results 2008. Includes a map that allows you to see results by county, some general exit polls back to 1980, and the candidates' victory and concession speeches.
ABC News' exit poll page allows you to create charts and graphs to see how various groups voted nationally and by state.
MSNBC's exit poll page seems to include almost every question asked.
Roll Call provides analysis of of significant changes.
General Web Pages on the Presidential Election
Excellent website with general information about American politics, includes factchecking, public opinion polls, and a presidential election map, as well as CQ’s own political blogs.
This well-developed website provides much more than the latest news on the presidential election. It has updates on the caucuses and primaries, backgrounders on the candidates, summaries of where they stand on the issues and a very useful page listing past and future debates with the ability to download video of many.
Election Guide 2008 (New York Times)
Includes background articles on the candidates, public opinion polls, analysis of the battleground states, and compares the candidates on the issues,
A clearing house website that includes links to news stories about major campagn events, as well as prominent opinion columns on the the state of the election, as well as the state of American politics. An excellent site for "one-stop shopping" on today's news and opinion.
Fact Checking Sites
PolitiFact.com from Congressional Quarterly and the St. Petersburg Times; includes a “Pants on Fire” feature with the most egregious misstatements made in the campaign.
FactCheck.org from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania; the first fact-checking site started in 1993.
The Voting
United States Elections Project
Dr. Michael McDonald, of the United States Elections Project based at George Mason University, provides the most up-to-the-minute tallies of the early voting taking place in many states. Prof. McDonald also provides tables on voter turnout rates (1980-2008) as well as significant reports on voter registration and turnout. The website is not very well organized but has a wealth of information buried in it.
Public Opinion Polls
Polling the Nations (John Jay users only) is a compilation of more than 14,000 surveys conducted by over 1000 polling organizations in the United States and 100 other countries from 1986 to the present time. The Topics dropdown box lists elections back to 1980 and the results can be exported in comma-separated format (.csv).
PollingReport.com, "an independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion, has a page devoted to Election 2008, but only national polls are open to the public.
Real Clear Politics is famous for their RCP Average, which averages the last few days of polls to give you a better snapshot of where the race stands today.
Pollster.com is a website devoted entirely to polling and public opinion. A key feature is its trendline, which mathematically calculates the state of the race over time. There are trends not only for the national polls, but also for the presidential race in each state, as well as the Senate and Governor's race in each state.
538.com is a polling website that tries to simulate how the election would turn out based on the polling results we have seen to this point.
Talking Points Memo, one of the better known political blog sites, has an excellent, up-to-the-minute Polltracker page on the multitude of polls tracking the presidential elections.
Databases concerning Political Behavior and Past Elections
Vital Statistics on American Politics
This database provides summary data on political behavior such as: voter turnout, election results, public opinion on most important issues in campaigns, trends on media, sources for campaign news, newspaper endorsements, interest groups and campaign financing, etc. Some charts provide data since the 1790s, but most charts focus on the time period between the 1940s and 2006. Use the search box in the gray banner toward the top of the page.
Examples: To locate a chart on the public's view of a campaign and the Most Important Problem: Domestic or Foreign, type in the search box "most important problem". Or to locate a chart concerning Public Opinion on the Death Penalty, type in the search box "death penalty".
This database provides detailed election results by state or by congressional district for past elections: Presidential 1789 - 2004; House 1822- 2006; Senate 1908 - 2006; Governors 1824 - 2006; Another section includes summary data about voter behavior, voter turnout, and demographics about individual election districts. This database does not have data from 2008.
Find your U.S. Representative and compare Congress Members' Voting Records
From CQ Press, this database allows you to find your representative via zipcode. Also, you can see just how closely aligned the voting records are of any two members of congress.
Information on Where and How to Vote
NY City Board of Elections Poll Site Locator
Go here to find out where you can vote in person on Tuesday November 4th. Polls are open in New York State until 9pm that day.
Go here to find out if and where you are registered to vote. A NY State voter search is here. There has been much recent discussion about voter lists being incorrect, particularly for first-time voters, if you do not find your name here, you have a right to go to the polling place at which you know you are registered and ask to fill out a provisional ballot. This is provided for by the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
From the website: The nonpartisan Election Protection coalition was formed to ensure that all voters have an equal opportunity to participate in the political process. Through our state of the art hotlines: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (administered by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) and 1-888-Ve-Y-Vota (administered by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund), this website, and comprehensive voter protection field programs across the country, we provide Americans from coast to coast with comprehensive voter information and advice on how they can make sure their vote is counted.
You can print out a guide to voting in NY State here.
The Brennen Center of NYU Law School's guide to student voting, at home or at school.
The rules for Absentee ballots are different by state, this site links to information on absentee voting in all U.S. states and territories.
NY State Absentee Voter Ballot
Absentee ballots in NY State had to be postmarked by Ocotber 28, 2008, but you can still printout a ballot here, fill it out and drop it off at the Board of Elections for your county. According to the website: Absentee voting in person begins as soon as the ballots are available (at least 32 days before an election) and ends on Election Day. In person absentee voting is conducted during the above period, at the Board of Elections' Borough Offices. The hours are 9:00AM to 5:00PM and on Election Day until 9:00PM. Monday through Friday and on the weekend prior to Election Day.
