Elections

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Elections 2008: Get Registered, Get Informed, and Get out to Vote!

Want more information on the 2008 Elections?
1. Join us for "Vote! Elections 2008" Workshop, Thursday, October 16 4pm-6pm. Student Activities Center conference room 4 (basement level). *Please bring a laptop or check out one from the CLICC Laptop Lending offices.

2. Stop by the UCLA Library table on Bruin Walk and next to the College (Powell) Library, Octber 6 - October 31 and ask your questions.

3. Ask a Librarian for assistance.


Contents

Voter Registration

Who Can Register to Vote?

  • Any U.S. Citizen 18 and older is eligible to register to vote.
  • Established by the US Constitution, 15th, 19th, and 26th Amendments.
  • States are able to set other eligibility requirements for the following:
    • Criminal History, e.g. felony, prisoners, those on parole or probation. For a good table that outlines this which states limit eligibility by criminal history, see USATODAY.com - R.I. to revisit felons' voting rights, Table: Voting Restrictions in Each State]
    • Residency
    • Mental competency or incapacity
    • Loyalty oath
Swear or affirm to "support and defend the Constitution of the U.S. and the State of Alabama and further disavow any belief or affiliation with any group which advocates the overthrow of the governments of the U. S. or the State of Alabama by unlawful means and that the information contained herein is true, so help me God."


Want to know more?
Visit the United States Election Assistance Commission's website. This bipartisan independent commission was formed as part of the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in order to "develop guidance to HAVA requirements, adopt voting system guidelines, and serve as a national clearinghouse about election administration. EAC is reponsible for maintaining the national mail voter registration form, developed under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

Help America Vote Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252

National Voter Registration Act of 1993, Motor Voter Act, Public Law 103-31


How Do I Register to Vote?

In California, the deadline to register to vote for an election is 15 days before each local and statewide Election Day or October 20, 2008.
The EAC provides a 50 State List of Voter Registration Deadlines

Are you a California Resident?

Yes


No
There are numerous organizations with an online presence that want to help people get registered. A person can obtain forms from their Secretary of State's Election Office or equivalent; County Clerk Recorder, or City Clerk's Office. Here are some sites you can visit if you need to register in your state:


Where do I Vote? Find your Polling Place

Absentee and Early Voting Information from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Do you live in Los Angeles County?
Yes

No
County Clerks or County Recorders offices are responsible for coordinating polling places. If you live outside of Los Angeles County and are not submitting a mail-in ballot, use the following resources to find your county's information:


Voter Registration Statistics

Voter Registration & Participation Statistics from the California Secretary of State.

Definitions/Discussion Standard published voter registration statistics across all states that can be obtained through a States Secretary of State or Election Office. You can see the total number of registered usually by city, county, assembly, senate districts for democrats, republicans, independents (not all states use this to report out), and "other".

Some states collect and report registration by ethnicity: Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania

If you need access to the microdata files or individual records from registration roles, you can contact the government agency directly. Be aware that each state will have laws that dictate what information from registration files is considered public record.

Sources

  • California Reports of Registration
    • Geography: State, Congressional District, Senate District, Assembly District, Board of Equalization District, County Supervisorial District, Political Subdivision (includes cities)
    • Time Period:' 1910 - current
    • Variables: Total Registered, Democratic, Republican, Other, Decline to State, American Independent, Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom
    • Units of Analysis: Individuals registered to vote
    • Access: Online 1910 - current
  • Los Angeles County Clerk Recorder Statement of Registration
    • Geography: State, Congressional District, Senate District, Assembly District, Board of Equalization District, County Supervisorial District, Political Subdivision (includes cities)
    • Time Period: 1910 - current
    • Variables: Total Registered, Democratic, Republican, Other, Decline to State, American Independent, Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom
    • Units of Analysis: Individuals registered to vote
    • Access: Online 2003 - current; previous years in print; or call the office
  • California Statewide Database UC Berkeley, Institute for Governmental Studies
    • Description: The redisticting database for California, includes voting, registration and geographic datasets for the State of California for statewide elections beginning in 1992. Also included are redistricting court cases and redistricting news for all states, and other redistricting resources such as research on redistricting criteria, initiative language and maps. Access to California Election Data, repackaged Census and GIS data for ease of use. Data sources include California Statement of Vote, Statement of Registration for all registered voters, for registered voters who actually voted, registered voters who voted by absentee ballot, and registered voters who physically voted at their precinct; and the 1990 and 2000 Census.
    • Geography: varies depending on data set - State, County, Assembly District, Senate District, Congressional District, Block, Tract, Precinct
    • Time Period: 1998-current General and Primary; 1992-1996 General
    • Variables: Inlcudes Political Party by Race, More
    • Units of Analysis: Individuals registered to vote
  • Voting and Registration Data Census (CPS November Supplement)
    • Description: Statistics and information on reported voting and registration by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics is collected for the nation in November of congressional and presidential election years in the Current Population Survey (CPS). Detailed information from recent surveys and historical trends in selected areas is listed below. Estimates and projections of voting-age population derived from administrative records and Census 2000 are also provided.
    • Geography: Nation and States
    • Time Period: Varies by report, earliest report is from 1964.
    • Variables: Voter registration, voter participation, reason for not voting, race, Hispanic origin, age, sex, educational attainment, employment, income, housing, veteran and citizenship status.
    • Units of Analysis: individuals
  • UCLA Data Archive CPS in SDA
    • Description: UCLA Data Archives converted the Current Population Survey microdata into SDA which allows for online analysis and access to variables in the CPS November File from 2006. The CPS November file includes variables on voter registration. Using the data in this file you can get
    • Geography: Nation, State, Region, County, Metropolitan Statistical Area, and Principal Cities
    • Time Period: November 2006 Supplement to the CPS
    • Variables: Employment, unemployment, earnings, hours of work, and other indicators. They are available by a variety of demographic characteristics including age, sex, race, marital status, and educational attainment. They are also available by occupation, industry, and class of worker. Supplemental questions to produce estimates on a variety of topics including school enrollment, income, previous work experience, health, employee benefits, and work schedules are also often added to the regular CPS questionnaire.
    • Units of analysis: Population represented is the civilian population living in the United States; people in the military, living abroad and in institutions are not included in the CPS.


Candidates, Issues, and Party Platforms

The Sprint UCLA Professors Blog the Final Leg of the 2008 Race for President. Read what your Professors have to say about the Presidential Election.

The American Presidency Project from UCSB contains a wealth of historical and current information related to the presidency: Presidential Debate Transcripts from 1976-2008; Party Platforms 1840-current; State of the Union Messages George Washington to George Bush; Statements of Administrations Policies, 1997-2008; a Data Archive, and much more.

Did you know that Mc Cain and Obama aren't the only candidates running for office? Project Vote Smart has information on all candidates running for office in the General Election.

Candidate Information

  • National Journal Group's Policy Central A comprehensive, full text politics and policy resource that provides access to the Almanac of American politics where you can get extensive biographies of representatives and senators. Also includes full text of National Journal, CongressDaily, Captial Source, Day Book, The Hotline, Technology Daily, Poll Track, Markup Report, and much more. (UCLA Only)
  • CQ Electronic Library Contains access to the key resources for researching legislation, laws, politics, voting and elections. Sources include: CQ Almanac, CQ Weekly, CQ Researcher, CQ Voting and Elections Collection, CQ Supreme Court Collection, CQ Public Affairs Collection, Encyclopedia of American Government, Washington Information Directory, California Political Almanac. (UCLA Only)
  • CQ Election Map Follow the races for President, Congress, State Legislature by Congressional District for all 50 States. Includes information on each district and past electoral races.
  • Lexis Nexis Congressional Find a biography of the candidates; track bills they sponsored and their voting records. (UCLA Only)
  • Open Congress Another good source to use for finding a biography of the candidates; track bills they sponsored and their voting records - limited to 2007 - current.
  • Resources in Health and Politics UCLA Library Course Guide for SW M290P and PP M211. The focus of the course was to research the candidate's health policies. The resources listed here can also be used to research any other policy as well.

Issues

Depending on the issue, consider using one of the many Article Databases that the UCLA Library licenses.

News Sources

Provides full-text information and perspectives from over 875 U.S. and over 1800 international sources, each with its own distinctive focus offering diverse viewpoints on local, regional and world issues. Date coverage varies with individual newspaper.

Access (mostly full text) to nearly 9,000 business and general news sources, including U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, wire services, Web sites, photographs, and trade and industry publications. Also, company profiles and company-to-company/company-to-industry financial comparisons, stock price data, and stock charting.

Offers translated and English language news and information compiled from non-United States media sources. Coverage includes political, environmental, scientific, technical, and socioeconomic issues and events. Contains information derived from full-text and summaries of newspaper articles, conference proceedings, television and radio broadcasts, periodicals, and non-classified technical reports. Includes FBIS reports from 2002 on.

Organizations

Did something the candidates say during the last debate make you wonder if it was completely true or not? Have you heard something repeated in the media about a policy or issue that you want to verify? Factcheck.org is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to "monitoring the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases." There is a wealth of information for the 2008 election, but their archive goes back to 2003.

  • Sourcewatch.orgA project of the Center for Media and Democracy, Sourcewatch is a wiki encyclopedia that covers the people, organizations, and issues shaping the public agenda.

Campaign Finance

  • OpenSecrets.org The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more responsive government. Search by donor name, by zip code, state, organization or general keywords to get reports. Reports, statistics, etc. are available from 1990 to current.
  • Follow the Money National Institute on Money in State Politics. Want to see who is contributing money (and how much) to your elected officials, then this site will help you research the money trails from 1990/2000 to current.

Party Platforms and National Conventions

The American Presidency ProjectProvides coverage of the party platforms for the presidency from the 1840s to 2004.
Platforms of the two great political parties. 1856-28,1932-44,1952 Location.
Platforms of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. 1956;1960;1964;1968. Location.


Democratic Party

2008 Democratic Party Platform
CSPAN Convention Hub DNC '08
2004 Democratic Party Platform
Proceedings of the Democratic National Conventions, 1832-1968. Location.
To view more materials on the Democratic National Committee platforms, search the Library Catalog for "democratic national committee" platform?


Republican Party

2008 Republican Party Platform
CPSAN Convention Hub RNC '08
2004 Republican Party Platform
Proceedings of the Republican National Convention, 1856-1968. Location.
To view more materials on the Republican National Committee platforms, search the Library Catalog for "republican national committee" platform?



Opinion and Exit Polls

  • Public Opinion Data Odum Institute for Research In Social Sciences, University of North Carolina. In addition to numerous other data holdings, Odum is the exclusive national repository for Louis Harris public opinion data.
  • Pollster.com Provides links to public opinion polls from most sources, analysis, and trend estimates of public opinion polls.


  • Pew Global Attitudes Project "A series of worldwide public opinion surveys that encompasses a broad array of subjects ranging from people's assessments of their own lives to their views about the current state of the world and important issues of the day. More than 175,000 interviews in 54 countries have been conducted as part of the project's work."


What is an exit poll? Article from the CQ Electronic Library on exit polls.

  • ICPSR UCLA is an ICPSR member institution which gives students, faculty and staff access to a wealth of survey and census microdata. Search the data holdings for "exit polls" to find the poll data. (UCLA Only)

What other types of polls are there?

What/Who else is on the ballot? California Ballot Information

State Ballot Measures

Initiatives or propositions are measures or acts placed on a ballot by citizens through a direct or indirect process. For more information on the initiative process in California, see the Secretary of State's 2002 study History of California Initiatives from the Initiatives website.

  • Hot Topic Guide to the General Election UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies Library. Covers all 12 California ballot measures are covered, including:narrative overviews with historical background; links to official voter information from the California Secretary of State; links to campaign websites, public opinion polls, reports and studies, and news.
  • California Ballot Propositions (1911-Present) from Hastings Law School Comprehensive, searchable database of California ballot measures from 1911 to the present. The Hastings site also offers PDF versions of ballot pamphlets from 1911 to the present.
  • Ballot Measures Database The National Council of State Legislatures offers a summary of ballot measures - including initiatives and legislative and popular referendums - from all states since 1902. Searches can specify states, topics, years, elections, and type of measure. The descriptions of measures include a title, summary (when available), assigned subjects, and vote outcome.
  • Initiative and Referendum Institute, University of Southern California. The I & R Institute reports on direct democracy trends. On their website, the group presents post-election results and reports, analysis of direct democracy techniques, and summaries of direct democracy in the states. State summaries link to the state's election website for further information.

Municipal and County Offices and Measures

  • Directory of Contests in Los Angeles County, includes City, County, Judicial, School District, and Special contests from the League of Women Voters.

Voting and Election Research Guides

From other institutions and university libraries

  • Elections Who Decides Guide to Voter registration, turnout, and election statistics and data, Kris Kasianovitz.
  • Elections 2008 University of Michigan, Government Information Library

Have Questions? Contact...

Kris Kasianovitz
UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library
Phone: 310-206-8746
Email me
Meebo Me!

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