U.S. District Court Judge Susan Dlott found the portion of Ohio law that allows challengers to be placed in polling places to be unconstitutional. Hamilton College government professor and nationally recognized voter statistician Philip Klinkner contributed research that led to the issuance of Dlott's decision. Klinkner found that 14% of new voters in a majority white location would face a challenger, but 97% of new voters in a majority African-American voting location would see such a challenger. Klinkner is available for comment on voting patterns, irregularities, projections, and related issues.
Klinkner is co-author of a Harvard University report about spoiled ballots in the 2000 election. The Civil Rights Project (CRP), "Democracy Spoiled," by Klinkner, Christopher Edley, co-director of CRP, and Jocelyn Benson and Vesla Weaver found that whether or not a vote is counted greatly depends on where it is cast, proving that ballot spoilage is a national problem that dilutes the voice of millions of Americans.
Examples of Klinkner's recent analyses include his study of the impact of race on elections nationwide. He scrutinized every Senate and governor's race between 1960 and 2002 and found that black candidates overall averaged 5 fewer percentage points than whites. "Having a black candidate loses you about five points, assuming all other things are equal," Klinkner concludes. "That doesn't mean you automatically lose. But if you spot the other team five points, it's much more difficult."
In New Mexico, Klinkner ran an analysis of the Hispanic ballot spoilage. He calculated that a brown voter is 500 percent more likely to have their vote spoiled than a white voter. He found that vote spoilage is an even bigger problem near Indian reservations.
Klinkner has also set out to dispel the myth of a divided nation. His study "Red and Blue Scare: The Continuing Diversity of the American Electoral Landscape" was recently published in the current issue of The Forum: Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics. "Despite often breathless claims in the media, there is little evidence to suggest that the United States is becoming increasingly segregated," he asserts. Klinkner blames the "now infamous" USA Today map published shortly after the '00 election. "The map quickly became a metaphor for the polarization of American politics" however, there was little to back it up."
Klinkner has written extensively on a variety of topics related to American politics. Most recently, he co-authored The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of America's Commitment to Racial Equality [University of Chicago Press, 1999], which received the 2000 Horace Mann Bond Book Award from Harvard University's Afro-American Studies Department and W.E.B DuBois Institute. His other books include The Losing Parties: Out-Party National Committees, 1956-1993 [Yale University Press, 1994] and Midterm: The 1994 Elections in Perspective (Westview Press,1996].
Philip Klinkner may be reached 315-859-4344 (office) or pklinkne@hamilton.edu
Klinkner is co-author of a Harvard University report about spoiled ballots in the 2000 election. The Civil Rights Project (CRP), "Democracy Spoiled," by Klinkner, Christopher Edley, co-director of CRP, and Jocelyn Benson and Vesla Weaver found that whether or not a vote is counted greatly depends on where it is cast, proving that ballot spoilage is a national problem that dilutes the voice of millions of Americans.
Examples of Klinkner's recent analyses include his study of the impact of race on elections nationwide. He scrutinized every Senate and governor's race between 1960 and 2002 and found that black candidates overall averaged 5 fewer percentage points than whites. "Having a black candidate loses you about five points, assuming all other things are equal," Klinkner concludes. "That doesn't mean you automatically lose. But if you spot the other team five points, it's much more difficult."
In New Mexico, Klinkner ran an analysis of the Hispanic ballot spoilage. He calculated that a brown voter is 500 percent more likely to have their vote spoiled than a white voter. He found that vote spoilage is an even bigger problem near Indian reservations.
Klinkner has also set out to dispel the myth of a divided nation. His study "Red and Blue Scare: The Continuing Diversity of the American Electoral Landscape" was recently published in the current issue of The Forum: Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics. "Despite often breathless claims in the media, there is little evidence to suggest that the United States is becoming increasingly segregated," he asserts. Klinkner blames the "now infamous" USA Today map published shortly after the '00 election. "The map quickly became a metaphor for the polarization of American politics" however, there was little to back it up."
Klinkner has written extensively on a variety of topics related to American politics. Most recently, he co-authored The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of America's Commitment to Racial Equality [University of Chicago Press, 1999], which received the 2000 Horace Mann Bond Book Award from Harvard University's Afro-American Studies Department and W.E.B DuBois Institute. His other books include The Losing Parties: Out-Party National Committees, 1956-1993 [Yale University Press, 1994] and Midterm: The 1994 Elections in Perspective (Westview Press,1996].
Philip Klinkner may be reached 315-859-4344 (office) or pklinkne@hamilton.edu
