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Nuggets vs. Timberwolves odds, prediction, time: 2026 NBA playoff picks, April 25 best bets by proven model
SportsLine's proven model has revealed its Denver Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves best bets for the 2026 NBA playoffs
Detroit Lions complete 2026 NFL Draft picks, finalize class
Here's a look at the Detroit Lions' finalized set of picks from the 2026 NFL Draft class.
NFL Draft Results: Eagles pick Micah Morris at No. 207
Philadelphia has a new guard!
Patriots trade 191st pick to Jaguars for pair of selections
New England moved down in the sixth round of the draft.
2026 NFL Draft: Taylen Green picked by Browns in sixth round; Arkansas QB will compete alongside Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson
Green thrived at the NFL combine and now will join the Browns' QB room.
Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 NFL Draft grades: TE Riley Nowakowski
Grading the Steelers’ fifth-round pick.
Titans draft pick Fernando Carmona explains Liberty Bowl stomping incident
Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Fernando Carmona, drafted in the fifth round, explained his stomping incident from the 2024 Liberty Bowl.
2026 NFL Draft picks: Dolphins trade back, pick Texas safety
The Miami Dolphins trade back, add safety with first of three fifth-round picks.
Saints pick WR Bryce Lance, brother of Chargers QB Trey Lance, in 4th round of 2026 NFL Draft
Lions fans react as Detroit picks Michigan LB Jimmy Rolder
Detroit fans reacted as the Lions scooped up another Michigan Man in Wolverines LB Jimmy Rolder.
49ers updated draft picks after trade back with Baltimore Ravens
The San Francisco 49ers traded again in the 2026 NFL draft.
Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 NFL Draft grades: WR/KR Kaden Wetjen
The Pittsburgh Steelers have added the nation’s top return specialist to their draft class, selecting Iowa’s Kaden Wetjen in the fourth round with the 121st overall pick. Here is what our staff had to say about the pick. Mike Nicastro: With a renewed emphasis on kick returns, Wetjen is expected to be the primary man […]
NBA Playoffs odds, picks: Best bets for Knicks-Hawks, Nuggets-Timberwolves, more on Saturday, April 25
Here are the SportsLine Projection Model's top picks for Saturday's NBA playoff games
Louisville adds 7’5 USC transfer Gabe Dynes
Pat Kelsey’s commitment to getting bigger in 2026-27 took another (very) sizable step forward Saturday with the commitment of 7’5 USC transfer center Gabe Dynes. Dynes, a Kentucky native who played his high school basketball at Simon Kenton in Independence, picked U of L over Kentucky. Before transferring to USC, Dynes spent two seasons at […]
2026 NFL Draft Day 3 live picks tracker with grades: Every selection in Rounds 4-7
Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft is here. USA TODAY Sports will be tracking all 157 remaining selections and providing grades for the most notable picks.
15 Healthy Trader Joe’s Finds a Dietitian Recommends for Spring
These products have spring-forward flavors, and they're convenient and affordable.
Pick of the stats: Coventry City v Wrexham
Here are the key stats for Coventry City v Wrexham.
Hibernian v Hearts: Pick of the stats
Hibernian have won both of their past two home league games against Hearts; they had won just one of their previous nine home Edinburgh derbies in the Scottish Premiership before this (D4 L4). After their 1-0 win in February, Hearts are looking to win back-to-back Scottish Premiership meetings with rivals Hibs for the first time since April 2014; this is the 28th top-flight game between the two sides since then. Hibs remain unbeaten in nine home league games (W6 D3), keeping a clean sheet in their last three; they haven't recorded four successive home shutouts in the top flight since December 2009 under John Hughes.
2026 NFL Draft Day 2 grades: Cardinals get mixed reviews
Day 2 of the NFL Draft is in the books, and the Cardinals seemed to land the plane with their first pick and raised some eyebrows with their second.
Best available players for the Broncos going into Day 3
Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft is in the books, and the Denver Broncos finally made a pick! They traded back into the top end of the third round and selected Texas A&M defensive tackle Tyler Onyedim. He will help replace the void left behind by John Franklin-Myers, who left via free agency and […]
NFL Draft 2026 results: Every pick from Rounds 1, 2 and 3
Carson Beck drafted by Cardinals at No. 65
The Arizona Cardinals drafted Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck with the No. 65 overall pick (third round).
NBA player prop picks, odds, free best bets: Model backing Jayson Tatum in 2026 NBA Playoffs on April 24
The SportsLine model and team of experts reveal top NBA props picks and NBA predictions for the NBA Playoffs on Friday
NFL draft picks tracker: Analysis for every 2026 second- and third-round selection
The 2026 NFL draft is fully underway. The Round 2 and 3 tracker offers instant analysis on all 68 picks made Friday night in Pittsburgh.
2026 NFL Draft: Nick Saban caught on hot mic trashing Cowboys' first-round pick: 'Wow, this is a reach'
Prime Picks: UFC Vegas 116 ‘Sterling vs. Zalal’
The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday takes a break from life on the road and settles in for some home cooking at the UFC Apex. Ready your wagers.
Who is central Ohio high school football's best player ever? Vote now
We've made our picks for the 10 best central Ohio high school football players ever. Vote in our poll, and let us know if we missed anyone.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups: 3 relievers to target going into this weekend, plus more streaming options
Sean McVay comes off as 'muted,' 'mad' after Rams' surprise pick of Alabama QB Ty Simpson
George Pickens is planning to sign $27.3 million franchise tag with Cowboys
Pickens has yet to sign the one-year, fully guaranteed contract but intends to put the issue to rest as the Cowboys go into the NFL draft.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Remake Dev Promises Lots Of Blood
Assassin's Creed fans have been picking over the reveal footage with lots of questions
Sports Daily: Recapping wild first night for Chiefs in NFL Draft
Did the Chiefs make the right move? We recap what they did with their first pick on the first night of the NFL Draft.
Ranking every NFL Draft first-round pick: Raiders get top billing; Cardinals' luxurious move drops them down
Value and personal evaluations are taken into account with each first-round pick.
These Fun Pursuits Help Middle-Aged Folks Protect Brain Health, Study Finds
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, April 24, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Picking up an instrument. Taking a trip abroad. Going out to dinner with friends. All of these are pleasant activities that add spice to life. And they are also some of the most powerful ways to boost brain power and ...
The NFL Draft opened with a gamble, a surprise and a sign of things to come
The Rams picking QB Ty Simpson shocked experts and fans alike, but it wasn't the only takeaway from Thursday's first round.
Pick of the stats: Birmingham City v Bristol City
Here are the key stats for Birmingham City v Bristol City.
St Mirren v Livingston: Pick of the stats
St Mirren have lost just one of their past 16 Scottish Premiership meetings with Livingston (W7 D8), going down 1-0 away from home in February 2024. Livingston won their first-ever Premiership visit to St Mirren 2-0 in August 2018, but have since failed to win 10 such trips in the competition (D4 L6), losing their past four in a row and failing to score in their latest three. Depending on Kilmarnock's result at Aberdeen, Livingston could be relegated this weekend should they fail to beat St Mirren.
“A Picayune Detail:” Nazi Science Heads West
As Allied forces crossed the English Channel during the D-Day invasion of June 1944, some 10,000 intelligence officers known as T-Forces were right behind the advance battalions. Their mission: seize munitions experts, technicians, German scientists and their research materials, along with French scientists who had collaborated with the Nazis. Soon, a substantial number of such scientists had been picked up and placed in an internment camp known as the Dustbin. In the original planning for the mission, a prime factor was the view that German military equipment – tanks, jets, rocketry and so forth – was technically superior and that captured scientists, technicians and engineers could be swiftly debriefed in an effort by the Allies to catch up.
2026 NFL Day 2 mock draft: When do Carson Beck, Garrett Nussmeier come off the board?
Projecting Day 2 picks as teams attack needs and top prospects slide into Rounds 2-3.
NFL Draft 2026: Sean McVay comes off as 'muted' after Rams' surprise pick of Alabama QB Ty Simpson
The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here's an offering of the best of this week's crop, picked fresh off the Toonosphere. Edited by Matt Wuerker.
Seahawks fans behind Jadarian Price selection at No. 32 overall
Seahawks fans reacted positively in large part to Jadarian Price being selected by Seattle with the No. 32 overall pick in the NFL draft.
Mixed reactions to Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round draft pick
Reactions are mixed about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round draft pick.
Raiders' challenge? Make Mendoza successful
The No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft will be asked to turn around a franchise that has struggled mightily the past few years.
Bills stockpile picks while moving out of first round in NFL Draft
The Bills moved out of the first round entirely.
Panthers select Georgia OT Monroe Freeling with the 19th pick in the NFL draft
The 6-foot-7, 315-pound Freeling played three seasons for the Bulldogs and started 18 games over the past two seasons.
Detroit fans react as Lions pick Clemson OT Blake Miller
Here's the best reactions as the Detroit Lions pick Clemson offensive tackle Blake Miller in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Eagles trade up with Cowboys, draft USC WR Makai Lemon in Round 1
In a trade with the Cowboys, the Eagles select USC WR Makai Lemon with the 20th overall pick.
Giants take Ohio State's Arvell Reese with 5th pick, then get help for offensive line at No. 10
Jets take edge rusher David Bailey over Ohio State's Arvell Reese with No. 2 pick, then take Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq, Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr. in 1st round
Cardinals draft Jeremiyah Love No. 3: Highest RB pick since Saquon Barkley now among NFL's highest-paid
Love goes No. 3 to Arizona, becoming the highest-drafted RB since 2018 and landing a $50M rookie deal
Cardinals draft Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love at No. 3
The Arizona Cardinals are drafting Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love with the No. 3 overall pick.
Dallas Cowboys NFL Draft tracker: Picks, grades, analysis for every selection
Track every Cowboys pick in the 2026 NFL Draft with live grades, analysis and updates
NFL draft picks tracker: Analysis for every 2026 first-round selection
The 2026 NFL draft is finally here. The first-round tracker offers instant analysis on all 32 picks made Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
Sheridan teachers’ strike tensions ratchet over health care benefits
The strike stretches into its third week as Gov. Polis continues to press both sides to come to an agreement.
NFL mock draft 2026: We prompted AI to predict the 1st round. Here are its picks
2026 NFL Draft Gambo 5: Predicting the Cardinals' pick
John Gambadoro names a group of five players, and he guarantees one of them will be picked by the Arizona Cardinals if they stay put at No. 3.
Trump picks former SC Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer for Belize ambassadorship
President Donald Trump is once again nominating South Carolina’s André Bauer to be the U.S. ambassador to Belize. Now it’s up to the Senate to confirm him to the post.
NFL Draft 2026: Running back position may be devalued, but the safest pick is probably Jeremiyah Love
US business activity recovers in April, war with Iran is boosting prices, S&P Global survey shows
U.S. business activity picked up in April after nearly stalling in the prior month, but supplier delivery times at factories worsened as the war with Iran disrupted supply chains, pushing a measure of output prices to a near four-year high.
US Business Activity Expands While Prices Rise Most Since 2022
US business activity picked up in April, fueled by the strongest manufacturing growth in nearly four years as war-related supply disruptions prompted a scramble for supplies.
2026 NFL mock draft 9.2: Will Cowboys target WR with their 1st-round picks after George Pickens negotiations stall?
YouTube TV’s fully customizable multiview finally starts rolling out
YouTube TV begins rolling out its fully customizable multiview feature, allowing users to pick their own channel grids on TV and mobile.
Trump’s CDC chief pick a move towards ‘evidence-based science’
Optimism over president’s choice of former deputy surgeon-general as next director of troubled agency
Titans' NFL Draft: What will they do with pick 4?
The Tennessee Titans hold the fourth overall pick in the NFL Draft. What will they do with it? Here are best and worst case scenarios.
ESPN draft analyst's final mock is dream scenario for 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers were able to steal a starter at a position of need in a surprise pick in Matt Miller's final mock draft of 2026.
The Herald's weekly entertainment picks
Looking to be entertained from Thursday, April 23, through Wednesday, April 29? Check out the Skagit Valley Herald’s weekly recommendations.
The Ultimate Draft Pick: CMU Showcases the Winning Power of Sports Innovation
"Powering the Future of Sport: A Draft Week Showcase," was a sports-themed day of engaging discussions, live robotics demonstrations and industry innovations on AI’s extraordinary potential to transform the future of sports.
Tensions rise between Nuggets, Timberwolves ahead of Game 3
The war of words is picking up between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets.
Wilson's final 2026 NFL mock draft: What I'm hearing with Round 1 one day away
One last projection of the top 32 picks as teams finalize plans for the first round
Keldon Johnson wins NBA Sixth Man of the Year after breaking Manu Ginóbili's Spurs record for bench points
The 2020 Draft pick found a valuable role for himself off the bench
2026 NFL mock draft 9.2: Do Cowboys target WR with their 1st-round picks after George Pickens negotiations stall?
Sean Plankey, Trump’s Pick to Lead Cybersecurity Agency, Withdraws His Nomination
Confirmation for the nominee, Sean Plankey, had been pending in the Senate for over a year.
Buffalo Bills Mock Draft: Could WR edge out defense early?
This is one of the more interesting Buffalo Bills drafts to project in recent years, beginning with the No. 26 overall pick.
Would you accept any of these No. 1 pick offers?
Yes, the NFL draft is a day away and the Las Vegas Raiders are fully expected to take Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall draft pick. It would be stunning if the Raiders trade the pick, but, anything is possible and let’s some some fun. Using the Pro Football Network draft simulator, […]
Iowa Senate blocks confirmation of Larry Johnson as director of Health and Human Services
Iowa Senate Democrats voted against confirming Gov. Kim Reynolds' pick to lead the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, citing transparency concerns.
NFL Draft 2026: Running back may be devalued, but the safest pick is probably Jeremiyah Love
Will Iraq’s Shia bloc overcome obstacles to pick the next PM?
The Shia-led Coordination Framework must nominate a prime minister by Sunday, as required by the constitution.
2026 NFL Draft: Every team's most ideal pick in Round 1
Here's the player each team would like to select in the first round to address biggest need
NFL Draft targets for teams without a first-round pick in 2026
If your favorite team doesn't have a first-round pick, don't worry, we have the best targets for your second or third round picks.
World Cup 2026: Pick your favourite kits from the tournament
BBC Sport has highlighted some of the most interesting kits which will be seen at this summer's World Cup. Pick your favourites.
Florida's Thomas Haugh forgoes NBA Draft, returning for senior season
Haugh was projected as a lottery pick in this year's draft.
Data centers are dealing hidden damage to environmental and public health—costing the economy $25 billion every year
In the murky economics of data centers, local communities get to pick up the tab too.
Zeldin picks leader for EPA’s new science office
A vast reorganization of the office last year ended its larger research program and spurred the departure of hundreds of scientists.
Biggest draft bust for every NFL team: The picks franchises still regret
From can't-miss prospects to cautionary tales, a team-by-team look at the draft decisions that aged the worst
Former Surgeon General Backs CDC Nominee, But Questions Remain on Vaccines
By HealthDay Staff HealthDay ReporterTUESDAY, April 21, 2026 (HealthDay News) — A former U.S. surgeon general is weighing in on the president’s pick to lead the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), calling Dr. Erica Schwartz highly qualified while warning of some potential ...
Shaky political science: using "simulated" elections over real-world elections
[Dear DSOS readers – this article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in early December, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting. We found that many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data, and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first three articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report, the second one analyzing a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report, and a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research]. In this fourth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we shine a spotlight on seven studies that were web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group (the ERRG is an ad hoc committee headed by New America’s Political Reform Program and joined by the American Enterprise Institute, the Unite America Institute and Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law). This research consortium has been led by Lee Drutman, senior fellow with New America’s Political Reform Program. These seven studies are simply not credible from any objective standard about how political “science” is supposed to illuminate our understanding of either ranked choice voting or politics in general. The feature that six of these seven studies have in common is that they all used surveys – artificial, simulated elections -- to attempt to say something cogent or interesting about ranked choice voting (RCV) elections. None of them used real world data from actual RCV elections – either the 1000+ elections in the US or the many thousands of elections from places like Australia, Ireland and elsewhere where RCV has been used for 100 years. While a few of these studies conclude with some mixed positives about RCV, our analysis here is content neutral. The idea that, with a political reform like RCV, you can ask respondents in a mock, artificial election to vote with that method, with only the barest of explanation about how RCV works or its likely impacts (i.e. no spoiler candidates, majority winners, voters liberated to pick their favorite candidates, coalition-building), and then ask them their thoughts/reactions about voting in that system, with fake candidates and no real campaigning, no real exposure to an actual election or actual candidates, rests on some very puzzling assumptions. The findings of these seven studies actually are contradicted by the findings from many other studies based on real-world RCV elections. These New America studies also failed to list the real-world RCV studies in their own citations, instead including those studies that reinforced their conclusions. The seven studies featured in this article were chosen because they form a cohesive cohort which precisely illustrates one of the main points of our research paper, namely that using surveys, i.e. artificial elections, or mathematical/theoretical models, instead of real-world data, is in fact “shaky political science.” Below are summaries of our analysis of five of the seven New America studies. You can read our complete analysis of all seven studies at our paper, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting.” Choosing to “Vote As Usual” by Andre Blais, Carolina Plescia, and Semra Sevi. New America. (Blais et al., 2021). This study, web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group, used two surveys in which respondents completed ballots for simulated elections using plurality, approval, RCV and point (Score) voting. In both cases the authors provided the respondents with only minimal explanation of each method. For example, the entire explanation for RCV was “For this vote, rank the candidates from your first to your last choice (you do not need to rank them all). This is called the ranked vote.” That’s it. The study did not provide any context or explanation to survey respondents about why she/he might want to rank multiple candidates. Participants were not even told that ballots would be tabulated using an “instant” runoff, not to mention any description of RCVs ability to eliminate the spoiler effect or liberate voters to rank their favorite candidates without fear of helping the “greater evil” candidate to win. That’s like taking an iPhone back in time to 1970 and asking someone if they like it better than their rotary phone without explaining how it works. Their first survey targeted states that held 2020 Super Tuesday Democratic primaries and used the real candidates’ names in the survey; the second survey used fictitious candidates. In other words, they surveyed respondents who had only ever participated in plurality elections, had no history or background with using RCV or any of the other methods, had no clue about its likely impacts, and did not communicate how the alternative methods would be counted, and then asked them: “How satisfied are you with using each system?” Predictably, the winner was plurality elections, the system used for president, Congress, gubernatorial and state legislative elections – in other words, the method they have been using, year after year, all their voting lives. With so little explanation of RCV and its impacts, this study is simply not credible in discovering anything useful about real-world RCV elections. It merely shows that a basic voter education campaign is needed when adopting a new election system. Additionally, the result contradicts many other post-election surveys following real RCV elections, asking opinions from voters who had just participated in a RCV election, that showed a great deal of satisfaction with RCV (see details on that in Studies 22-25 in our paper, as well as the four studies cited in the review for Study 28). Share Other studies on “satisfaction” and “understanding” make similar mistakes, in terms of basing their surveys on inadequate explanation to respondents and lack of education about context. How could any survey ever hope to measure accurately, in essence simulate a real-world election, without actual campaigning candidates, the media writing about those candidates, organizations endorsing candidates and voters being inundated with crucial information? More than anything, what these “studies” based on surveys show is that if you ask voters about something they don’t know very much about, and fail to adequately educate them, their responses will unsurprisingly reflect their confusion. Equally puzzling is that New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group, headed by political scientist Lee Drutman, found this to be a credible enough study that they not only published it but highlighted it in Drutman’s own discussion of research related to ranked choice voting. This pattern was repeated in study after study featured by New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group. For example in Ranked-Choice Voting and Political Expression: Voter Guides Narrow the Gap between Informed and Uninformed Citizens by Cheryl Boudreau, Jonathan Colner, and Scott MacKenzie, the researchers based their analysis on a survey which found that respondents who were asked to vote in a simulated RCV election, with minimal explanation of RCV or how it works, displayed less evidence of being informed about how to use RCV effectively, with the least informed voters ranking fewer candidates. As pointed out under the study above, in a real election voters are informed by a wide variety of methods, including public education by the election administration, by interested political groups, the media, and the candidates themselves who benefit from voters being aware of how to vote in the new system. In Support for Ranked-Choice Voting across Race and Partisanship by Joseph Anthony, David C. Kimball, Jack Santucci and Jamil Scott, the researchers used respondents from different parties and races voting in simulated plurality and RCV elections, who indicated their satisfaction with each voting method. Instead of using real world election results, the authors fell back on the easy, armchair and less reliable academic research methodology of making up mock elections. As with the other studies, little explanation was given of how RCV works or what its implications might be (electing majority winners or eliminating spoilers, for example). Unsurprisingly, this study found that respondents were not very satisfied with RCV. However, when the authors added an explanation that RCV has a tendency to elect more women and people of color, they found that this greater explanation increased the preference for RCV. The more voters were familiar with it, and the more they understood potential positive impacts – surprise! -- the more they were open to switching away from the status quo. Of note, the results from this study are thoroughly contradicted by a number of other studies whose data was obtained from real RCV elections with real voters. Those studies show a great deal of satisfaction with RCV. More “fake election” research An interesting wrinkle on this “research by fake elections” approach, which only served to illustrate how unreliable such “research” can become, was taken in Ranked-Choice Voting, Runoff, and Democracy: Insights from Maine and Other U.S. States by Joseph Cerrone and Cynthia McClintock_,_ also web-hosted and funded by New America’s ERRG. It gets high marks for creativity, but an eye-roll for thinking this could possibly add anything meaningful to our understanding of real world RCV elections. This study tried to determine whether RCV, plurality or two-round runoff elections provided greater voter satisfaction and acceptance of election results. To determine that, the authors conducted a survey asking if voters were satisfied with a fictional newspaper report of an election, with three different versions given to respondents – plurality, runoff and RCV, with variations of Republican/Democrat winners and variations of “come-from-behind” winners,” i.e. candidates not initially in first place but who win the “runoff.” Again, a minimal explanation of RCV or how it works was given, and the survey showed that respondents had the greatest unfamiliarity with RCV than the other methods. The unsurprising result? Respondents were much more satisfied with “come-from-behind” victories in a traditional two-round runoff election than in RCV, even though RCV is also a runoff system but with a single round of counting. Interestingly, the dissatisfaction with RCV disappeared for those who were more familiar with RCV. In fact, among those respondents who were “very familiar” with RCV, they were equally satisfied with RCV, runoff and plurality. Surprise, surprise. Again, what this study revealed, more than anything, is not only the inadequacy of the explanation for RCV given by the authors of this study, but the failure of the research format itself, thinking that such an artificial mock election could somehow simulate what actually happens in the real world in a real RCV election. Those four studies reviewed above are fitting examples of inadequate and shaky political “science.” Other studies reviewed in our paper from the New America/Electoral Reform Research Group cohort which also used mock elections included: Ranked-Choice Voting is an Acquired Taste by Joseph Anthony and David C. Kimball. New America. (Anthony et al., 2021). Ranked-Choice Voting is No Refuge for Extreme Candidates by Melissa Baker. New America. (Baker, 2021). Also included in this New America cohort is Does Ranked-Choice Voting Reduce Racial Polarization? by Yuki Atsusaka and Theodore Landsman, which actually did use real-world election results data but applied an odd and unconventional methodology to the data which relied on shaky assumptions and non-real-world scenarios that were too divorced from reality. To determine levels of “racially polarized voting,” the researchers imagined “ethnic parties,” by which they mean political parties for each ethnic group, which was especially odd since the election data they were using came from nonpartisan RCV races. But then they made an even odder assumption, namely that since race and ethnic characteristics of studied voters were not available, the authors tried to infer that information based on who voters selected and the racial make-up of voters in each district. This amounted to little more than vague and ambiguous guesswork dressed up with a bunch of mathematical equations used to give it a veneer of scientific appearance. Indeed, it seemed to assume racial polarization in order to prove racial polarization. Based on this questionable methodology, the authors concluded that RCV doesn’t reduce racial polarization. But the premise of this study missed an obvious reality: since RCV incentivizes more candidates to run and can result in more diverse fields of candidates, one would expect more racially-polarized voting in voters’ top rankings, not less, because more voters would have someone on that ballot who represents their racial or ethnic identity and more freedom to vote for their real first choice. By encouraging more diverse candidates and eliminating the spoiler effect, RCV facilitates voting for a favorite candidate of your own race and then selecting a second choice with the best likelihood of winning. The real measure is what voters do with their additional rankings – do they consider other candidates and vote “for the best of the rest”? This study didn’t tell us anything useful about that. But readily available data shows this is common in real RCV elections, and candidates act on this knowledge by engaging with voters outside their racial group. So the authors of this study failed to consider or account for what actually happens in real-world elections, and their conclusions are tainted by this failure. New America has contributed a great deal over the past 2.5 decades to our understanding of many policy areas, including politics and political reform (full disclosure: Steven Hill, one of the authors of this article and of the “Shaky Political Science” research paper and series, is a former senior fellow and former director of New America’s political reform program, 2005-2010). So it was especially disappointing that New America funded and published such a large batch of dubious studies about ranked choice voting. The stated praiseworthy goal of its Electoral Reform Research Group was to inspire new academic research about ranked choice voting that would shed light and help the public better understand the impacts of RCV. Instead, the ERRG research did just the opposite. It produced dubious research that created more confusion and misinformation. In so doing, New America’s political reform program contributed to “shaky political science.” Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS, a reader-supported digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
Cornerback could be Ravens’ wildcard pick in Round 1
The Baltimore Ravens could pivot to cornerback in Round 1 if value aligns, adding depth and future flexibility in the secondary.
Trump’s Federal Reserve chair pick to face lawmakers at key confirmation hearing
The hearing marks a key hurdle Kevin Warsh must overcome in order to succeed Jerome Powell when his term ends on 15 May