2020 in review: round up of our ten most popular posts

There has been some speculation on what Donald Trump might do if he lost the national popular vote but uncertainty remained around the results in some key states in the upcoming presidential election. Ben Margulies argues that Trump could try to circumvent the popular vote and rig the Electoral College in his favour, but it would be very difficult, and require broad cooperation from his party across both state and national levels. 

Information claiming that the COVID-19 is a hoax has unfolded on social media at the same time as the virus has spread across the world. Ralf Martin has analysed nearly 12 million tweets for spikes in COVID-19 hoax related content. He finds that those posting coronavirus related hoax content are more likely to mention Donald Trump, and that many areas where hoaxism is prevalent, like New York, also have higher infection rates.

An analysis of the available data suggests the number of daily new global cases will be negligible within 40 days, writes Oliver Linton.

Aside from the human cost, the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to have massive negative effects on the worldwide economy. Soomi Lee writes that the introduction of an emergency Universal Basic Income would help reduce the effects of the expected downturn and provide some financial security for people by immediately giving all adult Americans $1,000, regardless of their circumstances.  

Despite expectations that they would ride Joe Biden’s successful presidential election coattails to an increased majority in the US House of Representatives, the Democrats are likely to find themselves with a reduced majority heading into the 117^th Congress. Ryan Williamson and Jamie Carson write that moderates likely lost their seats in this election because they were defending very competitive and often Republican-leaning districts in a nationalized election. With this in mind, they comment that Democrats must now consider how to promote their often diverse messages in ways that satisfies both the progressive and more moderate parts of the party.

As the second most populated state, Texas is a significant electoral prize in presidential contests. Robert Ledger, Madison Imiola and Peter Finn write that changing demographics mean that Democrats are becoming more hopeful about winning the Lone Star State, but other factors such as primary turnout and the COVID-19 pandemic point to an uphill battle this year.

As we approach the 2020 presidential election, there is growing concern over the US states’ ability to administer the election during the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael Latner, Alex Keena, Tony Smith, and Anthony McGann write that if the election result is close, and there are questions over the vote count, then state legislatures which are Republican-dominated due to partisan gerrymandering may attempt to intervene and make their own decisions on their state’s Presidential Electors.

In 2016 Donald Trump was able to win the White House while at the same time losing the national popular vote. Richard Johnson looks at whether the incumbent president may be able to do the same thing again this year. He writes that because of how the Electoral College works, across the 30 states which backed him in 2016, Trump gained over 8.3 million ‘surplus’ votes in 2016. Trump could still win next week even if he performs slightly less well in most of 2016’s red states, while doing very well in key marginal states like Pennsylvania.