UI in the National Political News
November 2008
Redlawsk comments on youth turnout (Politico, Nov. 4)
Going against the stereotype of the apathetic college kid, youth have been more involved in this election than any in recent memory -- and experts think they will show up at the polls. Experts attribute the jump in interest to an increase in digital-based communication from campaigns, Democratic nominee Barack Obama's appeal to the generation, and increased outreach from the candidates. Obama "specifically reached out to younger voters," said University of Iowa professor DAVID REDLAWSK. "The evidence is that any group of voters, if they're targeted, tends to respond."
Colleges report voter turnout (Politico, Nov. 4)
On Election Day, campuses around the country were reporting a huge voter turnout and, for the moment, few problems or instances of voter intimidation. Early voting in Iowa City smashed past records with 43 percent of Johnson County's registered voters having voted by Monday, compared with 37 percent in 2004, according to the Daily Iowan, the student newspaper of the UNIVERSITY OF IOWA. Today's anticipated large turnout was expected to cause long lines at some polling places there, since Iowa -- along with Wisconsin and Minnesota -- allows same-day registration.
IEM traders bullish on Obama (Agence France Presse, Nov. 3)
Wall Street may be a mess, but in the final hours before Tuesday's U.S. election one share just keeps rising: Barack Obama. The IOWA ELECTRONIC MARKETS predict Obama 91.5 percent likely to get in and McCain 8.6 percent. The markets, which are run by the UNIVERSITY OF IOWA as a research project, found in a study that it had beaten the polls 74 percent of the time over 20 years. This story also appeared on the Web site of THE PENINSULA (Qatar), ABC-TV (Australia), YAHOO! CANADA, and numerous other news organizations.
Stories about the IEM also appeared on the Web sites of the STRAITS TIMES of Malaysia and MSNBC.com:
Jones discusses troubled electronic voting machines (Nature, November 2008)
DOUGLAS JONES, computer science professor at the University of Iowa, discusses the impact on voting of the many problems affecting electronic voting machines.
Columnist cites UI poll (Kansas City Star, Nov. 3)
Columnist Bill Tammeus writes, "It's impossible to understand American politics -- including our national election this Tuesday -- without understanding the influence of religion... A recent UNIVERSITY OF IOWA HAWKEYE POLL said that more than 8 percent of registered American voters think Sen. Barack Obama is a Muslim. Stunning, eh? Is this an understandable case of mistaken identity? No. It's a case of willfully deceitful propaganda having an effect."
Jones talks about voting scandals (DVICE.com, Nov. 3)
DOUGLAS JONES, voting technology expert at the University of Iowa, says most voting scandals involve ballot design, not technology flaws. From Florida's butterfly ballot in 2000 to this election's straight-ticket issues in Texas, design flaws cause more mis-votes than anything directly related to the machines themselves. The ideal voting machine would use touchscreen technology -- it can present selections more clearly and break down contests into separate screens that voters can scroll through, ensuring that you've made a choice before moving to the next screen. DVICE is a Web site of the SciFi Channel.
IEM predictions cited (Wall Street Journal MarketWatch, Nov. 2)
If you want to pooh-pooh the pundits and polls and get the real scoop on the likely outcome of Tuesday's presidential election, it's worth taking a look at the political-futures markets. The Iowa Electronic Markets, which opened in 1988, boasts a prediction rate of "closer than the polls 75 percent of the time," said JOYCE BERG, director of IEM and a professor of accounting at the University of Iowa.
IEM odds are cited (North Jersey Record, Nov. 1)
Columnist Joseph Ax writes that a McCain victory will make winners of those who go against the odds in prediction markets. "Some experts believe that online exchanges, like InTrade.com or the IOWA ELECTRONIC MARKETS at the University of Iowa, are the most accurate predictors of what will happen on Election Day, thanks to the power of free markets." A $1.67 investment in the IEM would pay $10 if McCain won. The column is appearing widely.