Like many Americans, 8 million of which have sunk into poverty as of June 2020 due to the pandemic, you may be anxiously waiting for some further stimulus support from the federal government. Even though a direct payment of $600 eventually passed, it took months of back-and-forth negotiations between Republicans and Democrats in the House, Senate, and Oval Office to finally reach an agreement; and the truth is for many it simply is not enough.

But the fight is not over, with some Democrats and Republicans, including Donald Trump, calling for a singular bill that would increase the stimulus to $2,000. …

With the runoff election looming ever closer in Georgia, the question is what happens when the Senate is flipped? If Democrats Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock were to win on January 5th versus the Republican incumbent’s David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, they would “flip the Senate”, and a single party would control both the Legislative and Executive branches. Democrats haven’t held a seat in the Georgia Senate since 2005 but, coming off the presidential election in which President-elect Joe Biden won Georgia by 12,670 votes, Democrats are keen to win Georgia and therefore win the Senate.

At the moment, Republicans hold a slim majority in the Senate, and if either Loeffler or Perdue wins reelection in their runoff, they will maintain their majority rule. But, if both Ossoff and Warnock win, then the Senate will be evenly split at 50/50 with the tie-breaking vote going to the Vice President, which in this situation is Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris. Although, this assumes that Democrats and Republicans would always vote entirely on party lines, and in practice that is hardly the case. Even if both Democrats win in the Georgia runoff election, Democrats would be hard-pressed to achieve everything promised by the incoming administration. …

What is split-ticket voting?

Split-ticket voting is the practice of voting for more than one political party on a ballot. During any election there will be federal, state, and local offices on the same ballot. You can vote for your political party all the way through. On the other hand, you can ‘split’ your vote between different political parties. For instance, this could mean giving a vote to the Republican candidate for a Senate seat and a vote to the Green Party candidate for the presidency.

How common is it?

Ticket-splitting is a fascinating phenomenon because many people have a deep-rooted attachment to their political party and voting for another party may feel like a betrayal. This may be why split-voting has become less and less common among Americans. According to a 2018 study by FiveThirtyEight, more and more voters are casting straight-ticket ballots. The researchers looked at the median difference between the margin of victory in statewide Senate and governor races in midterm elections. The overall trend that this study shows is a steady decline in split-ticket voting since 1998. However, there are exceptions, such as the 2004 elections in Montana, where Democratic candidate Brian Schweitzer was elected governor 50.4% to 46.0%, while incumbent Republican President George W. Bush won over Democrat John Kerry 59% to 39%. This suggests that a large number of voters split their vote, choosing a Republican presidential candidate and a Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate. …

An e-commerce site, provider of cloud services, and a new face in the brick-and-mortar industry as of late, Amazon has become one of the world’s most influential companies. It appears in the daily lives of millions of people across the U.S. and beyond, and with a recent evaluation of $1.7 trillion, how Amazon chooses to donate and advocate has a huge impact.

As the first company in our series of profiles, Amazon has been known to spend millions of dollars towards the causes it believes in. With big tech companies, Amazon included, spending record amounts on lobbying and playing an increasingly prevalent role in the politics of America, it becomes more and more important for us as consumers to acknowledge their weight on the political playing field and learn about how they stand. …

The 2020 general election may be over but many are looking at Georgia to determine who controls the Senate. There are two Senate seats up for grabs.

5 facts to keep in mind during the Georgia runoff elections:

1. What is a runoff election? According to The New York Times, it is “essentially a rematch that is held when none of the candidates meet the criteria for winning.”
2. If you are a 17 year old in Georgia but will turn 18 by January 5th, you are eligible to register to vote.
3. If Reverend Raphael Warnock wins, he will be Georgia’s first Black Senator. …

Congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris! The 2020 Election is over and the next step for the winners is Inauguration Day.

Inauguration Day will be held on January 20, 2021 in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C. Keep reading to find out what events take place on Inauguration Day!

1. Procession to the Capitol

Members of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies will travel to the White House to escort the President-elect, Vice President-elect, and their spouses to the U.S. Capitol building. …

In the aftermath of the November 3rd general election, most of the nation’s political attention is fixated on Washington D.C., as Joe Biden’s victorious team prepares to occupy the White House…while President Trump and some of his allies deny the fact that they lost.

However, there is also a huge amount of interest in an unlikely location — the state of Georgia, which will be holding two runoff elections for its seats in the U.S. Senate on January 5th. …

What’s next for VotingSmarter?

The general election of 2020 is finally over, and everyone here at VotingSmarter is breathing a sigh of relief after months of hard work. VotingSmarter’s #CandidateMatchmaker app was able to help thousands of people — particularly young voters and first-time participants in politics — find their political match and make better-informed political decisions.

So what’s next for VotingSmarter?

Well, first of all, you might think that the 2020 election season is over — but you’d be wrong! Thanks to Georgia’s “jungle primary” electoral system, there will be two run-off elections for the state’s two seats in the U.S. Senate on January 5. VotingSmarter is already preparing to help the voters of the Peach State find their political matches in a neutral, nonpartisan way. We have added the special election into our Candidate Matchmaker. …