Americans might experience an ‘Election Week’ instead of an ‘Election Day’

Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science; associate director of Northwestern's Institute for Policy Research

Druckman leads a public opinion survey about Americans' views on the COVID-19 pandemic.

• druckman@northwestern.edu

“Our 50-State COVID-19 survey revealed a deep partisan divide when it comes to preferences for how people plan to vote: 68% of those who favor Trump say they will turn out on Election Day to cast their ballot versus just 23% who favor Biden. But likely voters overall favored Biden by 50% to 40%. These differences explain why Americans might experience an “Election Week”— instead of an “Election Day” — in November 2020.

“It is thus conceivable that Trump will be winning at the end of the Election Day but will lose once all the votes, including mail-in or absentee, are counted. If so, it would create a chaotic situation given the Trump campaign has yet to commit to honoring the ultimate winner of the election.”

Associate professor of political science; faculty fellow in Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research (IPR)

Harbridge-Yong is an expert on partisan conflict in American politics

• (847) 467-1147
• l-harbridge@northwestern.edu

“The 2020 election will not only determine control of Congress and the Presidency, but control of statehouses (and thus the redistricting process) across the country. For Americans in both political parties, the stakes are high and a win by the opposing party is a source of fear for many Americans. With the shift toward record levels of vote-by-mail during the pandemic, it is unclear how quickly we will know the results of the election and, in battleground states, legal battles may ensue.” 

Harbridge-Yong's most recent book is “Rejecting Compromise: Legislators’ Fear of Primary Voters.”

Associate professor of political science and Latino/a studies

Dominguez's research interests include race and ethnicity, coalition politics and urban and minority politics.

• (847) 467-0706
• j-dominguez@northwestern.edu

“Florida will be fundamental to who wins on Nov. 3. And, if Latinos turn out in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, Latino voters could actually determine the outcome of this election. And, the handling of the pandemic will be front and center. Without Florida, the Trump team knows it cannot get to 270 electoral votes." 

Associate professor of political science

Tillery's research and teaching interests are in the fields of American politics and political theory. His research focuses on American political development, racial and ethnic politics and media and politics.

• (847) 467-4697
• alvin.tillery@northwestern.edu

“With less than a week to go until Election Day, both candidates are working hard on voter mobilization. Mr. Biden has been focused like a laser on portraying Mr. Trump as an incompetent steward of the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Trump has only reinforced this image with his closing pitch that ‘we have to open up the country’ amid spikes in 47 of the 50 states. Although the polls have tightened in a couple of the swing states — Florida and North Carolina — Mr. Biden should still be favored to win the election based on the polls. The only real question left is: How much mischief will Mr. Trump be able to sow in the courts? If he is successful at getting the new conservative majority on the Supreme Court to accept the logic of ‘Bush v. Gore (2000),’ it could seriously limit the count in several swing states and cost Mr. Biden the election.”

Associate professor of history

Gadsden's teaching and research interests are in the fields of political and policy history and African Diaspora history, with a focus on 20th-century African American history.

• (404) 274-3873
• brett.gadsden@northwestern.edu

Gadsden is the author of Between North and South: Delaware, Desegregation, and the Myth of American Sectionalism and is currently working on a book titled “From Protest to Politics: the Making of a ‘Second Black Cabinet.’”

Professor of African American and Latinx studies

Marquez is a foremost expert on race, politics, the law and social movements.

Marquez can be reached via Erin Karter at erin.karter@northwestern.edu or (312) 273-0277. 

Marquez is the author of the book “Black-Brown Solidarity: Racial Politics in the New Gulf South” and a forthcoming book titled “Genocidal Democracy: Neoliberalism, Mass Incarceration and the Politics of Gun Violence.” 

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Professor of Journalism

Doppelt is an elections procedures expert.

• j-doppelt@northwestern.edu

Doppelt is a member of the ad hoc Committee for 2020 Election Fairness and Legitimacy out of UCI Laws, which provides recommendations to advance the legitimacy of and the public's confidence in the November elections. 

Faculty director of Northwestern’s master’s in data science program

Miller is an election forecaster.

• (847) 491-5001
• thomas-miller-0@northwestern.edu

A data science expert, he runs The Virtual Tout, which provides hourly predictions using data from the betting market. As of today (Oct. 29), his forecast shows that Biden has a 81.8% chance of winning the election, but Trump is consistently narrowing Biden’s lead.

William and Virginia Karnes Research Professor of Law

Kang's areas of expertise include election law, voting rights and redistricting and campaign finance.

• (312) 503-7344
• mkang@northwestern.edu

Professor of law

Kleinfeld's areas of expertise include threats to democracy, election security, party politics and partisanship.

• joshua.kleinfeld@northwestern.edu

Harold Washington Professor of Law; previously served as a dean of Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law

Rodriguez's focus areas are administrative law, local government law and federal and state constitutional law.

• daniel.rodriguez@law.northwestern.edu

Clinical professor of law and executive director of Injustice Watch

From 2003-2010, Sorensen was an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, focusing on fraud and public corruption.