To learn that 2016 was quite possibly the best run election in this nation’s history took me by surprise: after all, quite a bit of fuss was made over Russian interference, social media’s role in the election, etc. However, instead of discounting these issues as trivial, the lecturers emphasized just how significant election problems have been in the past, especially within the past two decades. The kerfuffle in Florida with the 2000 election is common knowledge, with much ado having been made over confusing butterfly ballots and uncounted absentee ballots. However, this talk made it evident that Florida’s election issues didn’t exist in a vacuum. One could see that a nationwide election issue existed just by looking at a map showing the different voting methods in different states, which is exactly what we were presented with. It was striking just how divided our country was in that respect; some states used paper ballots, some used lever machines, and others used punched cards, just to name a few methods.

Thankfully, as a country we’ve drastically improved in uniformity of voting machines, among other things. While the odds of having “lost votes” in an election have generally decreased, barriers such as voter registration issues, long waits at polling places, and a lack of political enthusiasm demonstrate that we still have a long way to go. An interesting idea that I’d never thought of or been made aware of was the idea of handing out fines for not voting. This topic came up during the Q&A session at the end, and it actually revealed a difference in opinions between Professor Ansolabehere and Professor Stewart. While I’m not entirely sure what I think of the idea, it certainly gave me something to think about.

I think that previous sentence sums up the talk’s impact on me: we discussed many topics that I could spend all day pondering. As I become more politically active and opinionated (as one does) I’ll be sure to keep in mind the new perspectives that this talk has given me.