Blue shift (politics)

In American politics, blue shift is an observed phenomenon under which count of in-person votes overstates the final total count for the Republican Party (whose color is red), while mail-in and provisional votes, which are counted later, overstate the final total total count of votes for the Democratic Party (whose color is blue).[1] This means that election day results can indicate initially indicate a Republican victory, but adding provisional ballots into the count results in a Democratic victory. This can lead observers to call into question the election legitimacy, when in fact, the election results are legitimate.[2] Blue shift occurs because young voters, low-income voters, and voters who move often, are likely to vote provisionally and are likely to lean Democratic.[3] This phenomenon remains poorly understood by the general public and election experts, and can cause confusion given that Americans are accustomed to knowing results on election day.[4]

The phenomenon was first identified by Edward Foley of Ohio State University in 2013.[3] He found that Democratic candidates are significantly more likely to gain votes during the "canvass" period, which is the votes counted after election night.[5] This asymmetry did not always exist, as in the 20th century, as recently as the 1996 United States presidential election, Republicans and Democrats were both able to cut their opponents' lead during the canvass period. Foley conjectured that the 2002 passage of the Help America Vote Act accelerated the pronounced asymmetry of the blue shift phenomenon, because it required states to allow provisional ballots to be cast.[5] He later found that the variation in the size of the blue shift is positively associated with the number of provisional ballots and the Democratic partisanship of the state in question.[6] The growth in the persistent blue-shifted overtime vote began with the 2004 United States presidential election.[7] However, Foley has stated that political scientists have not fully "pinned down causality" of this phenomenon.[4] Foley did not find that mail-in or absentee votes favored either party.[8]

2018 elections

One example is the 2018 California's 39th congressional district election. This was a hotly contested race for a seat in the United States House of Representatives, representing portions of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino Counties in Southern California. Republican Young Kim was running against Democrat Gil Cisneros. On election night, November 6, 2018, Kim held a lead of 3 percentage points and over 150,000 votes over Cisneros. However, as the votes were counted over the ensuing weeks, Cisneros overtook Kim in the vote count, and won the election.[1]

Another notable example of blue shift was the 2018 United States Senate election in Arizona between Republican Martha McSally and Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. McSally led the vote count on election night, but Sinema ultimately won the election due to mail-in ballots.[9] Democrats initially thought that they had lost that election, but ultimately won.[10] In addition to these examples, blue shift has been documented in California,[1] Pennsylvania,[3] Oregon, and Ohio,[5] among other states.

2020 elections

Foley has expressed concern that this phenomenon, along with difficulties in conducting an election during a pandemic, could lead to "a perfect storm" in the 2020 United States presidential election.[11] The blue shift could decide the election.[4] This concern is particularly pronounced due to the fact that incumbent president Donald Trump has not stated whether he will accept election results.[12] Given Trump’s repeated attacks on mail balloting, nonpartisan experts have warned that he might plan to build up a lead among ballots cast on Election Day, claim victory, and then say, "stop counting ballots because all those absentee ballots are illegitimate," thus disallowing the likely blue shift.[13]

In addition, the United States Postal Service has had cost-cutting policies put in place by its new director Louis DeJoy, who is a top donor and fundraiser to Donald Trump, and these cost-cutting policies may further slow delivery of postal ballots. Donald Trump has openly stated that he opposes USPS funding to prevent mail-in ballots, due to his fears that it could hurt his chances of re-election.[14] Some have accused of Trump of "intentionally kneecapping the postal service in an attempt to sabotage the election."[15] These concerns were echoed by former president Barack Obama, who described Trump's threats as "unheard of".[16] For this reason, election experts have advocated that postal ballots be mailed weeks in advance of Election Day.[17] As an alternative solution, Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times advocated that Democrats should vote in person if they are able to.[18]

References
  1. Li, Yimeng; Hyun, Michelle; Alvarez, R. Michael. "Why Do Election Results Change After Election Day? The "Blue Shift" in California Elections". American Government and Politics. doi:10.33774/apsa-2020-s43x.
  2. Hyun, Michelle (30 March 2020). "The Blue Shift in California Elections | Election Updates". electionupdates.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  3. Lai, Jonathan (27 January 2020). "How does a Republican lead on election night and still lose Pennsylvania? It's called the 'blue shift.'". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  4. Graham, David A. (2020-08-10). "The 'Blue Shift' Will Decide the Election". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  5. Foley, Edward B. (2013-11-12). "A Big Blue Shift: Measuring an Asymmetrically Increasing Margin of Litigation". Journal of Law and Politics. Rochester, NY. 27.
  6. Foley, Edward B.; Stewart III, Charles (2015-08-28). "Explaining the Blue Shift in Election Canvassing". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Foley, Edward B.; Stewart III, Charles (2020-03-01). "Explaining the Blue Shift in Election Canvassing". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. Graham, David A. (2020-08-10). "The 'Blue Shift' Will Decide the Election". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  9. Arkin, James. "Sinema wins Arizona Senate race". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  10. "What does Kyrsten Sinema's historic win mean for Arizona?". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  11. Nilsen, Ella (2020-07-31). "States are scrambling to stop a slow-motion 2020 election disaster". Vox. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  12. "The election is in 94 days. Will the results be seen as legitimate?". Christian Science Monitor. 2020-07-31. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  13. McCartney, Robert (17 August 2020). "Here's one way Trump could try to steal the election, voting experts say". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  14. CNN, Ellie Kaufman, Marshall Cohen, Jason Hoffman and Nicky Robertson. "Trump says he opposes funding USPS because of mail-in voting". CNN. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  15. Estes, Adam Clark (2020-08-07). "What's wrong with the mail". Vox. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  16. Merica, Dan. "Obama: Trump is trying to 'actively kneecap' and 'starve' the postal service". CNN (14 August 2020). Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  17. Berman, Russell (2020-08-14). "What Really Scares Voting Experts About the Postal Service". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  18. Bouie, Jamelle (2020-08-11). "Opinion | How to Foil Trump's Election Night Strategy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
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