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GIL-Find is CSU Library's Catalog
Having trouble finding keywords? Here are some suggestions for researching information related to elections:
The Presidential Elections page provides a wealth of information specifically related to presidential campaign research.
The Congressional Elections page provides more specific information related to congressional campaign research.
The Campaign Finance page of this guide contains additional and more specific campaign finance information such as legal resources, books, and various types of web sources.
Datasets, Polling, and Statistics can help with finding data information related to specific campaigns.
Full video coverage of the Democratic and Republican parties' national conventions, 2000–present. Includes some coverage from 1984 and 1996 as well as some third-party conventions (e.g., Reform Party in 2000, Libertarian in 2016).
Library of Congress - Archive of Campaign Websites
Published by the Library of Congress, this link will take you to a collection of archived websites from state and federal campaigns.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This page contains CSU Libraries' Resources available to faculty, students, and staff. Here you will find tons of information sources which include databases, the library catalog, book suggestions, and more. Be sure to check out the other tabs of this guide for more information on specific areas and topics related to elections.
Please feel free to contact me at any time. I'm here to help!
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The ERA, hosted by SUNY-Binghamton's Center on Democratic Performance, contains results from legislative and presidential elections from 1974 onwards for countries that meet a minimum threshold of democratic governance.
A full set of biographies about each President of the United States.
Presidential Libraries provide a broad range of educational opportunities for students of all ages. Each Presidential Library offers programs designed to introduce students to American history and the Presidency and to inform teachers about the use of primary source documents in teaching history.
Find biographies of members of the U.S. Congress from 1774 to the present.
An encyclopedia where you can look up terms and names related to the U.S. and International government and politics. You can also find the latest news on a variety of topics, especially ones related to elections. Type a name in their search box and get tons of biographical information.
Links to information on current officials and candidates.
A portal to government and non-profit websites that list current federal and state elections and also provide information about the candidates.
Collecting election data compiled by the staff of the Daily Kos of presidential general election returns and some statewide returns (e.g., governor, senator, state attorney general, etc.) broken down by congressional district, state legislative district, and media market. Data in Google sheets.
This site contains constituency (state-level) returns for elections to the U.S. presidency from 1976 to 2016 and county-level returns for presidential elections from 2000 to 2016.
A New Nation Votes is a searchable collection of election returns from the earliest years of American democracy. The data were compiled by Philip Lampi. The American Antiquarian Society and Tufts University Digital Collections and Archives have mounted it online for you with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Nonpartisan project based at GWU documenting the presidential campaigns from 2000-2016. Especially useful for extensive information about general elections and primary campaign organizations for the major candidates. The basis for a dataset coding field offices by county for 2004–2008 (Democrat) and 2012 (Democrat and Republican).
From the Pew Research Center, the Elections Performance Index, or EPI, is the first comprehensive assessment of election administration in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Using data from 17 key indicators, the EPI makes it possible to compare election administration policy and performance across the states and from one election cycle to the next. The index presented here is based on 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 elections.
November supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS) provides results on reported voting and registration in presidential and congressional elections broken down by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics down to the state level. Does not include reported partisan votes. Detailed tables in Excel or .csv, including historical time series from the 1960s–.
National and state turnout rates for the voting-eligible population (VEP) and voting age population (VAP) for the 1980-present November general elections. Also, national turnout rates for presidential and midterm general elections, 1787-2012. Data in Excel format. Some years have primary figures as well. Compiled by Prof. Michael McDonald of the University of Florida.
A 50-state list providing details on voter registration list data availability, permitted uses, cost, and links to state election sites for requesting.
Comprehensive turnout statistics for general and primary elections for presidential, congressional, and state gubernatorial races. Extensive tables provide state-level figures (including partisan turnout) grouped by office or election type in 20-year chunks. It also includes chronologies of major events and election law changes affecting turnout. Data in Excel or .csv.
Dr. Michael McDonald, an Associate Professor at George Mason University, provides national and state voter turnout statistics from 1980 to the present.
Public Opinion by
Public Opinion is a comprehensive and multidisciplinary examination of public opinion in the United States. Drawing on scholarship in political science, psychology, sociology, and communications, the authors explore the nature of political and social attitudes in the United States and how these attitudes are shaped by various institutions, with an emphasis on mass media. The book also serves as a provocative starting point for the discussion of citizen moods, political participation, and voting behavior.
The campaign manager : running and winning local elections by
Successful campaign manager and three-time mayor of Ashland, Oregon, Catherine Shaw presents a clear and concise, must-have handbook for navigating local campaigns. This handbook gives political novices and veterans alike a comprehensive and detailed plan for organizing, funding, publicizing, and winning local political campaigns. Finding the right message and targeting the right voters are clearly explained through specific examples, anecdotes, and illustrations. Shaw also provides in-depth information on assembling campaign teams, precinct analysis, canvassing, and dealing with the media. The Campaign Manager is an encouraging, lucid presentation of how to win elections at the local level. Updates to the fifth edition include an entirely new chapter on social media and its influence on campaigning, new coverage on how to put together a campaign plan, and a new appendix on how to campaign on a budget.
Improving public opinion surveys interdisciplinary innovation and the American national election studies by
The American National Election Studies (ANES) is the premier social science survey program devoted to voting and elections. Conducted during the presidential election years and midterm Congressional elections, the survey is based on interviews with voters and delves into why they make certain choices. In this edited volume, John Aldrich and Kathleen McGraw bring together a group of leading social scientists that developed and tested new measures that might be added to the ANES, with the ultimate goal of extending scholarly understanding of the causes and consequences of electoral outcomes.
Exit Polls: Surveying the American Electorate, 1972-2010 by
Every two years, exit polls become the most widely analyzed, written about and discussed data-set in the United States. Although exit polls are known for their use in predicting elections, they are in fact the best tool for explaining election results. Exit polls are taken from actual voters, whereas pre-election polls that tally people′s intended votes are estimated to overstate the number of people who will actually go to the polls. Exit Polls: Surveying the American Electorate is a groundbreaking new reference work that explores for the first time the trends in longitudinal variables asked in the national Election Day exit polls from their beginning in 1972 to the present.
See the Statistics, Datasets, and Polling tab of this guide. Be sure to see the Public Opinion & National Polling Information section of the page.
Below are selections of ebooks related to misinformation and fact-checking. Titles also delve into topics related to media bias and its effects.
Click on the 
for more information on the title. Content of all titles is accessible to CSU Faculty, Staff, and Students only.
Encyclopedia of Misinformation: A Compendium of Imitations, Spoofs, Delusions, Simulations, Counterfeits, Impostors, Illusions, Confabulations, Skullduggery, Frauds, Pseudoscience, Propaganda, Hoaxes, Flimflam, Pranks, Hornswoggle, Conspiracies & Miscella by
How have the media, government, technology, and history deceived us? Have fake and real become indistinguishable? Were we ever unburdened of disinformation, or is deception bound to the human experience? Are we being manipulated right now, or worse yet, are we deceiving ourselves? These are the provocative questions within The Encyclopedia of Misinformation, a compendium of deception and delusion throughout history. In a frolicking series of vignettes, author Rex Sorgatz saunters through propaganda and subterfuge in eclectic contexts, including science and religion, comedy and law, sports and video games. Slingshotting through conspiracy theories, internet and popular culture, and perplexing psychological phenomena, this compendium illuminates deliriously diverse subjects: Artificial Intelligence, Auto-Tune, Chilean Sea Bass, Claques, Clickbait, Cognitive Dissonance, Cryptids, Dark Matter, False Flag Operations, Gaslighting, Gerrymandering, Kayfabe, Laugh Tracks, Milli Vanilli, Phantom Time Hypothesis, Photoshopping, Potemkin Villages, Rachel Dolezal, Strategery, Truthiness, and the Uncanny Valley. Encyclopedic in scope, but with an incisive voice tuned to these bedeviling times, this is the modern reference book to engage a world rife with artifice and deception.
Trial by Internet by
The relative anonymity the Internet provides allows us to assert our knowledge like a professor, show off our seemingly perfect lives, and judge like we're presiding over a court of law. The problem with this relatively new phenomenon is that we often make snap judgments about other people's actions or statements without knowing all of the facts, and without giving others the benefit of the doubt. This volume dives deep into the realities of the Internet age: Do we become different people when we're on the Internet? What responsibility do we have in our treatment of others in this new society? Is it our place to be virtual judge and jury?
Digital Information Ecosystems by
Digital information, particularly for online newsgathering and reporting, is an industry fraught with uncertainty and rapid innovation. Digital Information Ecosystems: Smart Press crosses academic knowledge with research by media groups to understand this evolution and analyze the future of the sector, including the imminent employment of bots and artificial intelligence. The book adopts an original and multidisciplinary approach to this topic: combining the science of media economics with the experience of a practicing journalist of a major daily newspaper.
Fact Vs. Fiction : Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Age of Fake News by
The advent of the 24-hour news cycle, citizen journalism and an increased reliance on social media as a trusted news source have had a profound effect not only on how we get our news, but also on how we evaluate sources of information, share that information and interact with others in online communities. When these issues are coupled with the “fake news” industry that intentionally spreads false stories designed to go viral, educators are left facing a new and challenging landscape. This book will help them address these new realities. Fact vs. Fiction provides educators with tools and resources to help students discern fact from fiction in the information they access not only at school, but on the devices, they carry in their pockets and backpacks.
Information Literacy: Separating Fact from Fiction by
People today live in a world of information overload. Each day, information is shared from countless sources through numerous devices. Learning how to handle this onslaught of information has become a vital task for everyone. By the time they reach upper elementary school, most students are using smart phones, tablets and computers to access social media, video websites, online forums, wikis, blogs, and interactive digital games. Students need guidance on how to analyze online information sources, critically think about the content, and apply it to their decision-making. This essential professional resource includes everything that teachers need to help students achieve digital literacy, and includes activities and easy-to-use templates to support teachers as they teach the key skills of analyzing and understanding online information.
No Longer Newsworthy by
Until the recent political shift pushed workers back into the media spotlight, the mainstream media had largely ignored this significant part of American society in favor of the moneyed "upscale" consumer for more than four decades. Christopher R. Martin now reveals why and how the media lost sight of the American working class and the effects of it doing so. The damning indictment of the mainstream media that flows through No Longer Newsworthy is a wakeup call about the critical role of the media in telling news stories about labor unions, workers, and working-class readers. As Martin charts the decline of labor reporting from the late 1960s onwards, he reveals the shift in news coverage as the mainstream media abandoned labor in favor of consumer and business interests.
Be sure to check the Fact-Checking 2020 Election Topics in the News box of the 2020 Presidential Election page of this guide for additional fact-checking resources, especially in relation to fact-checking election information. Other helpful boxes on that page are the Snopes.com Fact-Checking Feed and the Fact-Check.org Feed.
Federal Election Commission: Background, Issues, and Campaign Finance Oversight by
Over 40 years ago, Congress created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to administer the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and related amendments. Today, the FEC is responsible for administering disclosure of millions of campaign finance transactions; interpretation and civil enforcement of FECA and agency regulations; and administering the presidential public financing program. This book provides selected information about the FECs history and ongoing issues that are likely to be of interest to Congress for appropriations, legislative, or oversight activities. It also provides Congress with a resource for understanding the FECs enforcement process and context for why enforcement is consequential; discusses deadlocked votes among members of the FEC; discusses current Supreme Court and other case law evaluating the constitutionality of limits on contributions and expenditures; and examines recent developments of the state of campaign finance policy.
Public Financing in American Elections by
Reformers argue that public financing of campaigns will help rescue American democracy from the corruptive influence of money in elections. Public Financing in American Elections evaluates this claim and aims to remove much of the guesswork from the discussion about public finance. Featuring some of the most senior scholars in political science and electoral studies, this book provides an up-to-date treatment of campaign finance research and thinking about public campaign financing reforms. Exploring proposals at the local, state, and federal levels, the contributors provide a comprehensive overview of public financing initiatives in the United States and discuss their impact. Focused analyses of several current public programs are also presented.
Interest Groups and Campaign Finance Reform in the United States and Canada by
In the early 2000s, the United States and Canada implemented new campaign finance laws restricting the ability of interest groups to make political contributions and to engage in political advertising. Whereas both nations' legislative reforms sought to reduce the role of interest groups in campaigns, these laws have had opposite results in the two nations. In the United States, interest groups remained influential by developing broad coalitions aimed at mobilizing individual voters and contributors. In Canada, interest groups largely withdrew from election campaigns, and, thus, important voices in elections have gone silent. Robert G. Boatright explains such disparate results by placing campaign finance reforms in the context of ongoing political and technological changes.
Campaigns and Elections American Style by
Dramatic changes in political institutions and behavior over the past three decades have underscored the dynamic nature of American politics, confronting political scientists with a new and pressing intellectual agenda. The pioneering work of early postwar scholars, while laying a firm empirical foundation for contemporary scholarship, failed to consider how American politics might change or recognize the forces that would make fundamental change inevitable. In reassessing the static interpretations fostered by these classic studies, political scientists are now examining the underlying dynamics that generate transformational change. Transforming American Politics is a series that brings together texts addressing four closely related aspects of change. A first concern is documenting and explaining recent changes in American politics--in institutions, processes, behavior, and policymaking. A second is reinterpreting classic studies and theories to provide a more accurate perspective on postwar politics. The series looks at historical change to identify recurring patterns of political transformation within and across the distinctive eras of American politics. Last and perhaps most important, the series presents new theories and interpretations that explain the dynamic processes at work and thus clarify the direction of contemporary politics. All of the books focus on the central theme of transformation--transformation in both the conduct of American politics and in the way we study and understand its many aspects.
Published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
Provides information on proposed legislation and other legal aspects of campaign finance, elections, political communication, ethics, etc.
Buying the Vote: A History of Campaign Finance Reform by
Are corporations citizens? Is political inequality a necessary aspect of a democracy or something that must be stamped out? These are the questions that have been at the heart of the debate surrounding campaign finance reform for nearly half a century. But as Robert E. Mutch demonstrates inthis fascinating book, these were not always controversial matters.The tenets that corporations do not count as citizens, and that self-government functions best by reducing political inequality, were commonly heldup until the early years of the twentieth century, when Congress recognized the strength of these principles by prohibiting corporations from makingcampaign contributions, passing a disclosure law, and setting limits on campaign expenditures.
Big Money: 2.5 Billion Dollars, One Suspicious Vehicle, and a Pimp on the Trail of the Ultra-Rich Hijacking American Politics by
Mark Hanna -- the turn-of-the-century iron-and-coal-magnate-turned-operative who leveraged massive contributions from the robber barons -- was famously quoted as saying: "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can't remember what the second one is." To an extent that would have made Hanna blush, a series of developments capped by the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision effectively crowned a bunch of billionaires and their operatives the new kings of politics.
Campaign Reform by
What is wrong with American political campaigns? How could the campaign process be improved? This volume brings the expertise of leading political scientists to the public debate about campaign reform. These scholars probe the reality behind the conventional wisdom that nasty, vacuous campaigns dominated by big money and cynical media coverage are perverting our political process and alienating our citizenry. Some of their conclusions will be startling to campaigners and critics alike. For example, "attack" advertisements prove to be no more effective than self-promotional advertisements but are more substantive. Indeed, candidates in their advertisements and speeches focus more on policy and less on strategy and process than any major news outlet, including the New York Times. The volume suggests that, as a result, prospective voters in 1996 knew more about the candidates' issue positions than in any presidential election in decades, yet turnout and public faith in the electoral process continued to decline.
Races, Reforms, and Policy: implications of the 2014 midterm elections by
The midterm elections of 2014 saw the culmination of long-term trends in American politics and laid the groundwork for Republicans' successes in 2016. To what extent were the results the product of shifting partisan and demographic trends, and to what extent did policy questions drive the results? What can 2014 tell us about midterm elections generally? In this volume, leading scholars look at this election in its broad strokes, in case studies of key races, and in terms of policy questions such as immigration, health care, the environment, and election administration itself. Chapters also address the important issue of voter wait times for democratic outcomes.
Super PACs by
The passage of Citizens United by the Supreme Court in 2010 sparked a renewed debate about campaign spending by large political action committees, or Super PACs. Its ruling said that it is okay for corporations and labor unions to spend as much as they want in advertising and other methods to convince people to vote for or against a candidate. This book provides a wide range of opinions on the issue. Includes primary and secondary sources from a variety of perspectives; eyewitnesses, scientific journals, government officials, and many others.
This site presents information developed by Caltech and MIT intended to improve the technical aspects of the United States voting system. It includes the full text of their report, Voting-What Is, What Could Be.
Site of the Center for Voting and Democracy, a nonpartisan organization "that supports fair elections and studies how voting systems affect participation, representation and governance".
In-depth non-partisan information on initiative and referendum issues. Concentrates on the U.S. but with some international coverage.
The non-partisan, non-advocacy organization provides up-to-the-minute news and analysis on election reform. See their resource library for more information on the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Their interactive map lets one see the numbers of registered voters, voting age population, voting system used, etc.
***See the Campaign Finance tab of this guide for more specific information for election research related to campaign finance.
Court documents can be found in several ways; however, often, there is a processing fee, even to view online. Below are two organizations that provide court documents for current election litigation for federal and state election law-related cases, free of charge.
Founded in 2020, Democracy Docket is a reliable source of news that delivers detailed analysis and expert commentary on voting rights, election litigation, and policy that will shape our elections and democratic institutions for years to come.
With a comprehensive database of over 650 cases, Democracy Docket tracks and reports on the latest election and voting-related litigation, providing filings, in-depth analysis, and up-to-date developments about court proceedings.*
Started in 2010, Free Law Project is the leading 501(c)(3) nonprofit using technology, data, and advocacy to make the legal ecosystem more equitable and competitive.**
*From Democracy Docket's About Page
** From the About Court Listener page
The American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, presents the electoral and popular vote results from 1789. Additional presidential election-related data is also provided, such as voter turnout, Gallup Poll accuracy, representation of the president's party in House elections, and popular and electoral vote mandates.
"The mission of the American National Election Studies (ANES) is to inform explanations of election outcomes by providing data that support rich hypothesis testing, maximize methodological excellence, measure many variables, and promote comparisons across people, contexts, and time."
Founded in 1950, it develops and promotes the study of politics. The Association is affiliated with the International Political Science Association and represents its members on the Council of that body.
provides integrated teaching, research, and study program focusing on Congress and the presidency and the interactions of these two fundamental American institutions. Its projects include a federal election project, improving campaign conduct, etc.
It is a collaborative program of cross-national research among election studies conducted in over fifty states.
International Foundation of Electoral Systems
A non-profit NGO provides professional advice and technical assistance in promoting democracy and serves as an information clearinghouse on elections, the rule of law, governance, and civil society.
Center for American Women in Politics
Source of scholarly research and current data about American women’s political participation. This site presents data and analysis of women's voting behavior, including statistics on turnout and the gender gap in voting.
Know the laws that protect your right to vote and govern the election process. Find results of past federal elections. Learn how voting methods and habits have evolved.
Find information for every election in the United States, notable speeches, campaign information, and more. Compiled and published by the Library of Congress.
Find out more about how elections for Vice Presidency have changed over the years from the U.S. Senate.
Book of the States: Gubernatorial Campaigns
Chapter 4 on the State Executive Branch includes an annual article on gubernatorial elections that discusses key campaigns and has tables of statistics on the cost of campaigns, 1970–present.
Preserves campaign websites of declared candidates running for state elective offices. Beginning in 2018, the initiative preserved state legislative campaign content and websites for candidates in states with an Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation institution — California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island — with the hope of adding additional states and / or other subnational elective offices as resources permit.
Films On Demand is available to faculty and students that contain video content on hundreds of topics and disciplines.
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