Last-minute messaging for the midterms, reforming the Electoral Count Act, and why we won’t know all the results by the end of the night.
November 8, 2022 Editor’s note: It’s Election Day in America! In this edition, we highlight a few more must-read pieces on the midterms and strengthening U.S. democracy. We encourage you to join us for a webinar on Thursday for expert analysis of the election results. Register for the event here. | Last-minute messaging for the midterms As the 2022 midterm election cycle comes to an end, candidates are scrambling to engage in last-minute messaging changes that can push them over the finish line. Elaine Kamarck and John Hudak examine how candidates have adjusted their messages on hot-button issues such as abortion and inflation. Read more | Election denial and the Electoral Count Act Following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, both houses of Congress have taken steps to reform the Electoral Count Act (ECA) in ways they hope will resolve ambiguities and reduce future threats to the democratic process. Victoria Bassetti, Taylor Redd, and Norman Eisen review the congressional proposals and how they address the critical shortcomings of the ECA. Read more | Why we won’t know much on election night The chances of knowing which party will control the U.S. Senate by the end of the night is increasingly small, and the chances of knowing who won every single U.S. House and statewide race is zero. John Hudak explains how election officials are handling the vote count and what this may mean for discourse around the results. Read more | The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management, or its other scholars. | |