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Voting in the 2022 midterm elections may be over, but the legal battles are not. State courts and election officials are bracing for challenges on the smallest of issues such as the missing dates on some mail-in ballot envelopes.
But despite concerns that new state voting laws and intimidation would suppress minority – and mostly Democratic – votes, constitutional law scholar Bertrall Ross of the University of Virginia notes in our election panel today that turnout among Black and Latino voters appears to have been robust.
The factors determining who wins an election are not what voters normally think. Political science professor Jeffrey Lazarus says it’s not individual characteristics of candidates or their abilities. What determines who wins an election is very simple: what’s happening with the economy and the president’s approval rating. That may well drive the final outcome of the 2022 midterms.
While the political issues were pretty clear during the midterms, the results are less certain. Election law scholars Mara Suttmann-Lea and Thessalia Merivaki, from Connecticut College and Mississippi State University respectively, write that scrutiny over mail-in ballots may mean the outcome of some races is not known for days or even weeks.
Also today:
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Voters cast their ballots in Madison, Wisc., on Nov. 8, 2022, as numerous close races draw to a close.
Jim Vondruska/Getty Images
Thessalia Merivaki, Mississippi State University; Bertrall Ross, University of Virginia; Jeffrey Lazarus, Georgia State University; Mara Suttmann-Lea, Connecticut College
Some election results will take days or longer to materialize – but on election night, a panel of scholars offer initial takeaways on mail-in voting, how to win an election and voter suppression.
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Ethics + Religion
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Dimitris Xygalatas, University of Connecticut
An anthropologist explains why we all have some irrational beliefs and the reason they give us comfort.
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Arts + Culture
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Stefan Szymanski, University of Michigan
As the ball that Maradona’s fist helped on its way to the back of the net – with some divine help – goes up for auction, a scholar of soccer explains why that goal means so much.
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Politics + Society
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Kirsten Matoy Carlson, Wayne State University
A case before the Supreme Court will determine whether a federal law meant to protect Native American children from being forcibly removed from their families is constitutional.
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Tracy Perkins, Arizona State University
Poor communities of color have spent decades battling US industrial and agricultural pollution. A new EPA office is designed to support their struggle, but history suggests reason for caution.
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Education
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Andrew J. Hoffman, University of Michigan
Is business education too focused on money and not humanity? A business professor weighs in.
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Environment + Energy
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Kimberly S. Sheldon, University of Tennessee
Everyone is feeling the heat these days – even species that develop underground.
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Marc Trevor Freeman, University of Pretoria; Andrew McKechnie, University of Pretoria
Birds species vary greatly in the way they handle heat – an important finding for predicting vulnerability to global warming.
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