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U.S. Elections

This guide offers starting points for U.S. elections and topics in U.S. elections research.

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The following resources serve as valuable information for U.S. elections research, and are helpful when researching related topics on this guide. Information on this guide includes reference works, scholarly articles, and government websites. 

CQ Press Voting and Elections Collection ðŸ”’ 

Contains content on election results and analysis, scholarly articles, primary sources and much more. 

CQ Library 🔒  

Includes reference narratives and documents on elections, parties, voter behavior, and campaigns.

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts ðŸ”’ 

Indexes articles that cover a broad spectrum of political science and related fields, encompassing international relations, law, public administration, and policy. Indexes sources from 1975 to the present.

Law Library of Congress Reports (HeinOnline) ðŸ”’  

"Its mission is to provide authoritative legal research, reference and instruction services, and access to an unrivaled collection of U.S., foreign, comparative, and international law."

National Survey of State Laws (HeinOnline) 🔒  

The NSSL covers the changes that have happened in many areas of law since 2015. It provides an overall view of some of the most-asked about and controversial legal topics in the United States.

PAIS International (Public Affairs Information Service) ðŸ”’ 

A wide range of sources, including journal articles, books, government documents, and other types of resources that focus on public affairs, public and social policy, and international relations.

Nexis Uni ðŸ”’ 

Encompassing full-text content from regional, national, and international newspapers, alongside business, legal, and medical publications, this resource also incorporates government documents.

🔒 Requires Log In Credentials 

Legal and Legislative Resources

ProQuest Congressional ðŸ”’ 

Contains citations and full text to U.S. legislative information from 1970 to the present, with additional coverage of Congressional hearings from 1824 to 1979.

Congressional Record ðŸ”’ 

Congressional Record Bound Edition & Predecessors from 1789-Present and Congressional Record Daily Edition 1985-Present.

United States Serial Set Digital Collection ðŸ”’ 

The U.S.Congressional Serial Set, including the American State Papers, is a series of reports and documents published by Congress.

Congress.Gov 

Contains bills, resolutions, votes, Congressional Record, appropriations, and other Congress materials.

GovInfo

Provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.

🔒 Requires Log In Credentials 

Electoral College

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

NARA's Electoral College page provides box scores for electoral college vote starting from 1789. List of states and numbers of votes assigned in electoral college, votes for electoral college in the past two elections and US Constitution and US code relating to presidential election.

How the Electoral College Works

USA.Gov provides an introduction to the electoral college including the process, how many electors there are, and more.  

Presidential Elections and the Electoral College (The Proceedings of the Electoral Commission of 1877)

This Library of Congress project presents the pages from records of Congressional debates on presidential elections, contested presidential elections, electoral colleges from 1789 to 1877.

Voters' Guides

Voters' Guides - League of Women Voters

California's League of Women Voters publishes non-partisan voters' guides.

Voter ID: State Requirements Map

Thirty-six states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls. The remaining 14 states and Washington, D.C., use other methods to verify the identity of voters. Most frequently, other identifying information provided at the polling place, such as a signature, is checked against information on file.

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