In commentary compiled by the Miller Center, Batten Professors Jennifer Lawless, Margaret Foster Riley, Todd Sechser, and Craig Volden weigh in on the 2020 election, offering updates on the latest developments.

Batten's Jennifer Lawless, along with William Antholis, and Kyle Kondik, discuss how mail-in and absentee votes are counted, why results could be delayed this year, and how the pandemic has affected the election.

Historic harms—discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, affect public perception of governmental institutions and their public administrators. Batten's Brian N. Williams speaks to how we could change American institutions and their public servants in the face of these harms.

Batten’s Craig Volden and Vanderbilt’s Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, find that members of Congress are becoming less specialized and in turn, less effective. How do we encourage more expertise and reverse the trend?

Six Batten students completed public service-focused internships supported by the Frederic S. Bocock Fellowship this summer. Through the generosity of Fred and Mary Buford Hitz, the Bocock Fellowship was created to advance the careers of Batten students in public service, specifically through governmental internship opportunities.

Voting by mail is a safe way to cast a ballot during the current pandemic, and does not benefit either political party, according to Batten's John Holbein.

In the U.S., the coronavirus crisis has thrust a typically wonky debate—the effectiveness of mail-in voting—into the political spotlight. Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, this week again warned that expanding the use of mail-in ballots could give Democrats an edge in the November elections. Now, a study from Batten’s John Holbein and Brigham Young University political scientist Michael Barber suggests there’s little historical evidence to support that fear.

Michele Claibourn is an assistant professor of public policy at the Batten School and Director of Equitable Analysis for The Equity Center at UVA.  Claibourn leads the Center’s community-engaged data science work in support of a more equitable and just region. She has directed or supervised multiple community-based research projects in the Charlottesville community, including racial equity studies for the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless.

What makes someone an effective lawmaker? Surprisingly, until Batten’s Craig Volden and Vanderbilt’s Alan Wiseman began discussing that question a little over a decade ago, we didn’t have a clear answer.

Batten student Avery Shivers creates Main Street Speaks podcast with two fellow UVA students to discuss national news with a local angle. “We are not trying to add more political divisiveness, but to fill a void of information,” said Shivers.