ONLINE FORUM - The American election during COVID-19: The pandemic's influence on Democracy and voter participation

18:30 - 20:00 CEST / 12:30 - 14:00 EDT / 9:30 - 11:00 PDT / Track 4: Democracy in Crisis

The global pandemic has exacerbated many existing election challenges in the USA. Voter turnout and participation in state-wide ballot measures are of particular concern. In the 2016 election, only 56% of the voting-age population cast their votes with a quarter of these votes being cast via postal ballots. The number of postal ballot votes is expected to rise significantly due to the public health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 virus. This poses a considerable challenge to democratic practice in the USA.

In this workshop, we'll discuss voter turnout and participation in ballot measures, thus facilitating a dialogue between experts and participants. Our envisioned result would be to make concrete suggestions for stimulating public engagement and participation during the upcoming presidential election and state-wide ballot measures.
 

Online Forum Confernce Guide