It’s not just 2020: U.S. presidential elections have long featured close state races
Here’s a look back at some of the closest races of elections past and an assessment of just how common such races are.
Politics
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Democrats more optimistic than Republicans that partisan relations in Washington will improve in 2021
Just 21% of Americans say relations between Republicans and Democrats will get better in the coming year; 37% expect relations to worsen.
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Sharp Divisions on Vote Counts, as Biden Gets High Marks for His Post-Election Conduct
A large majority of Americans say additional COVID-19 aid is needed – and want Congress to pass it as soon as possible.
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Most voters are ‘fearful’ and ‘angry’ about the state of the U.S., but a majority now are ‘hopeful,’ too
A 56% majority of voters now say they feel hopeful about the state of the United States, up from 47% in June.
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The Trump era has seen a decline in America’s global reputation
In international surveys, Donald Trump has generally received lower ratings than either of his two predecessors.
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Understanding how 2020 election polls performed and what it might mean for other kinds of survey work
Many who follow polls are asking how these errors could happen. Here, we’ll take a preliminary shot at answering that question.
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America is exceptional in the nature of its political divide
The U.S. is not the only country wrestling with political fissures. But the pandemic has revealed how pervasive the divide in U.S. politics is.
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Most mail and provisional ballots got counted in past U.S. elections – but many did not
In the 2016 general election, voters submitted nearly 33.5 million mail ballots, but more than 400,000 (1.2% of the total) weren’t counted.
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2020 election reveals two broad voting coalitions fundamentally at odds
If one takeaway from the election is historic voter participation, another may be the political polarization that has come to define the U.S.
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Amid pandemic, the long decline of in-person voting on Election Day is likely to accelerate this year
Votes cast on Election Day have grown steadily less significant over the past several election cycles as a share of total votes cast.
