As November’s general elections loom ever-nearer, public opinion across the United States remains divided on candidates and the state of the nation – often publicly and vocally divided, in fact. These midterm elections will be the first elections since president Joe Biden took office and will provide a watermark for how Americans are feeling about his – and his allies’ and opponents’ – work thus far.
As The Guardian reminds us, Biden will not be on the ballots, but a variety of national and local politicians will be vying for office. Every single one of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives is up for grabs, as well as 35 seats in the Senate, 36 state governorships and three territorial governorships, and myriad local positions such as mayors, regional judges, and council-members. Ballot measures are also up for vote, including state legislature regarding abortion following the repeal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
We recently looked at the three candidates for the office of the governor here in South Carolina and their presences on Twitter. However, these three are only a small part of the wider electoral landscape at large across the country. What are some of the opinions and discussion themes guiding election coverage nationwide this year? And how has that changed since the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021?
Just searching for the simple term “elections” since Jan. 1, 2022, unsurprisingly returns a massive volume of messages: that single word was mentioned more than 11.61 million times this year alone within the United States. A whopping 88.83% of these discussions are coded with negative sentiment, which is not surprising given the vitriol behind candidates’ ads and news platforms. Naturally, so many mentions does not lead to a very conducive micro-level look at the dialogue, but some of the overarching themes can give insight into what people have been talking about over the run-up to the Nov. 8 elections.
One of the most dominant themes is “fair elections.” Ever since former president Donald Trump lost his re-election bid in the 2020 presidential election, concern has spread across America about the validity of elections and whether or not votes are being properly counted. While investigations have proven that there was no fraud in that election and it was conducted fairly, the ongoing concern has spread from Trump’s supporters to a wider population who are also worried about their vote counting.
The two most-shared Tweets under this topic come from the Biden White House and former president Barack Obama, reaffirming the fairness of that election and others in the U.S., as well as expressing the need for reliable and passionate poll workers. Reports indicated that it is difficult to find poll workers for these upcoming elections because volunteers and employees fear for their safety in such a contentious atmosphere.
MAGA Republican elected officials refuse to accept the results of free and fair elections.
147 Congressional Republicans voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. https://t.co/yVC9fvQzfH
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 2, 2022
With the midterms coming up, we need to recruit poll workers who are willing to serve in communities across the country.
This Poll Worker Recruitment Day, @AllOnTheLine and @PowerThePolls are partnering to make sure elections everywhere are safe, fair, and efficient.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 16, 2022
Another recurring theme of discussion is gerrymandering, the practice of moving voting district borders to make the most desirable districts for a party or candidate. There was a huge uptick in mentions of gerrymandering and elections in conjunction with each other in June 2022, right around the time Roe v. Wade was overturned and many states’ leaderships proved to not be very representative of their constituents’ opinions on abortion.
Many people talking about gerrymandering discussed how specifically partisan it is and called for an end to the practice – along with several other reforms to make voting more fair and easier for all citizens, in particular with the Freedom to Vote Act. This Act garnered nearly 359K mentions this year with 87.3% of those being negative. However, phrases like “filibuster” and “head in the sand” showed up frequently in conjunction with the Act’s name, indicating that a lot of the negative mentions come from affiliated practices and perceptions of legislators. On the other hand, many of the top posts are from Democratic leaders like Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Kamala Harris, advocating for the need for the Act in creating a more egalitarian vote.
21st century Jim Crow is about voter suppression and subversion—it’s about who gets to vote, who counts your vote, and whether your vote is counted.
The Senate must pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 13, 2022
Overall, the phrase “democracy is in crisis” showed up repeatedly not only under searches for widely controversial practices like filibustering and gerrymandering, but also in larger election coverage as well. One of the more widely disseminated op-eds containing the phrase hearkens back to the problem of intimidation and threats at the polls, particularly by armed and/or organized civilian groups. Recently, in Arizona, a group was served a temporary restraining order after Latinx voters reported being threatened and feeling unsafe while voting. Forbes reports that more than 40% of Americans are worried about intimidation tactics and physical threats at the polls. Some voters are reporting online that they have also been turned away from early voting, or even have been arrested by police after erroneously being told by officials they were eligible and registered to vote.
https://twitter.com/vanessajones/status/1582019171281301505?s=20&t=tIT9d8KhDX6-aCMIUXqMIA
Body cam footage of people arrested by Desantis for voting after local elections offices registered them and told them they were eligible. pic.twitter.com/2LNBe3LIwW
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 18, 2022
Stay tuned with us here at the Clemson Social Media Listening Center leading up to the Nov. 8 general elections.
Author: Kayleigh Jackson
