We evaluate the politics of interim judicial appointments at the state level. Although nominating commissions have been established to promote merit-based selection, we argue that governor-applicant ideological concordance and financial support for a governor’s campaigns increase one’s odds of being appointed. We focus on the impact of political factors, as well as the qualifications of prospective judges. We analyze over 4,000 applications to fill interim judicial vacancies in Georgia from 1991 to 2014. Our findings indicate that ideological proximity and campaign donations to the governor increased the likelihood of appointment to the bench with their influence overpowering some indicators of competence.

Voter identification (ID) policies, especially those of the photo ID variety, have been hotly contested over the last few years. The primary concern surrounding these statutes amounts to lower turnout, especially among certain groups in the electorate, such as racial/ethnic minorities. In 2007, the way was cleared for Georgia to implement a new statute requiring registrants to present a government-issued photo ID to vote. Using population data on registrants from two election cycles coupled with information on a subgroup of registrants known to lack photo ID, we conduct a policy impact analysis of the Georgia voter ID law. We find that the new law did produce a suppression effect among those registrants lacking proper ID. Substantively, the law lowered turnout by about four-tenths of a percentage point in 2008. However, we find no empirical evidence to suggest that there is a racial or ethnic component to this suppression effect.

Following the problems with presidential voting in Florida in 2000, voters and political scientists became interested in election administration. While empirical studies have shown that different election equipment can produce different tabulation error rates, little is known about the factors that affect voters' perceptions of good election administration. Using a survey of voters in Georgia, we examine these perceptions of the voting process. We find that black voters and Democrats were significantly less confident than others that their votes were counted accurately and that they were also more likely to express concerns over the election equipment they used. In contrast, the actual voting environment, including the type of voting equipment used, appears to have no direct bearing on voters' trust in the process.

In a model that relies entirely on legal and structural factors, Wright (1989) seeks to account for changes in voter participation from the initial primary to the runoff. This article tests an alternative, campaign-centered model of voter turnout in 109 congressional runoffs from 1982 through 1996. The analysis indicates that candidate-centered factors, including the amount of money expended by the candidates in the runoff and the political experience of the primary leader, influence turnout in runoff primaries. Generally, when more money is spent during the runoff, voter participation declines less relative to the initial primary, suggesting that a more stimulated political environment encourages greater participation. Spending before the initial primary is less influential than spending between the primary and runoff in maintaining voter turnout, which indicates that any potential effects from stimulation of the environment in the prior campaign have largely dissipated by the time of the second election.

The most remarkable change in American politics in recent generations has been the emergence of partisan competition that has transformed the once solidly Democratic South. After almost a century of unswerving Democratic loyalty, the South gave near unanimous support to GOP presidential nominees in four of five elections between 1972 and 1988 which gave rise to the belief that the GOP had a lock on the region's electoral votes (Black and Black 1992). In 1992, Bill Clinton picked the lock and made off with four states; however, the South remained George Bush's strongest region. Nonetheless, 1992 was the best presidential year for Democrats since 1976 when Georgian Jimmy Carter carried the region, except for Virginia.

Beneath the tidal wave that saw Democrats win only 51 of 553 electoral votes from the 11 southern states from 1980 through 1992, are several currents. One element has been the seeping of GOP influence further down the ticket. Initial Republican successes in the South came in voting for president even as most southerners steadfastly supported state and local Democrats. No longer, however, do GOP presidential nominees like Richard Nixon sweep the South's electoral votes while Republicans manage to win only a third of the congressional seats and half as many state legislative seats. Nonetheless differences remain in the success of the GOP for various levels of offices and variations persist in the degree of support given the two parties by different groups in the South.

This research note examines the relationship between districting format and the racial makeup of Georgia county commissions from 1981 to 1991. As Section 2 of the 1982 Voting Rights Act was implemented, the relationship between the racial composition of the electorate and the racial makeup of the commission strengthened appreciably in single-member district and mixed systems but not in at-large electoral systems. The relationship between racial makeup of the electorate and of the governing body is at times weaker in single-member counties than was observed in single-member cities in the 1970s and is weaker in at-large counties than has been observed in cities. In part, the differences may be attributable to an improved measure of African American political influence used in this study.

A survey of the 946 American cities having populations in excess of 25,000 in 1980 reveals very little relationship between election structures and the presence of women on their councils. These results hold for the full data set as well as for four regional subsets. The evidence does not sustain the desirability hypothesis that suggests women will less often be elected in cities where the position is more valued. Women serve somewhat more frequently in the West, as expected, however, the proposition that the South will have a small proportion female on its councils is not borne out.

To determine if the majority vote requirement disadvantages blacks, a set of runoffs for county offices is analyzed. For the period 1970–1984, blacks who led in the initial primary but faced a white in the runoff were less successful than were white primary frontrunners who faced another white in the runoff. Since 1977, however, black primary frontrunners do about as well as whites. The magnitude of the difference in the share of the vote polled by the two leading candidates and facing an incumbent are variables related to a stronger performance by black candidates. Black plurality leaders more often win nominations in more affluent counties.