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Tonic Sol-fa
The Iowa State Fair is the largest event in Iowa and one of the oldest and largest agricultural and industrial expositions in the country. Learn more.
Ubuntu's "AI Kill Switch" Is Achieved By Removing Snaps, Initially Opt-In
Following yesterday's polarizing news of Canonical to begin shipping AI features in Ubuntu Linux over the course of the next year, Jon Seager as the VP of Engineering at Canonical has now provided some clarifications around their AI plans.
Tyler Halverson
The Iowa State Fair is the largest event in Iowa and one of the oldest and largest agricultural and industrial expositions in the country. Learn more.
Brain Health Across the Life Span: A Framework for Future Studies
This Scientific Statement focuses on the role of nonvascular physical and psychological factors that impact brain health, which is described as the optimal functioning of the brain across cognitive, emotional and behavioral domains throughout life.
Canonical lays out a plan for AI in Ubuntu Linux
AI features are coming to the most popular Linux distro.
Arvest fund hits milestone, bank launches fundraiser - Talk Business & Politics
The Arvest Opportunity Fund, a non-bank subsidiary of Fayetteville-chartered Arvest Bank, recently provided its 1,000th business loan. The bank also recently kicked off its annual Million Meals campaign, a two-month...
Silicon Valley mental health crisis team at risk of losing funding
People are seeking out Santa Clara County’s non-police mental health crisis team more than any other response program. But it's about to run out of money.
Treatment-first court model is redefining justice for people with serious mental illnesses
Kalamazoo County’s Mental Health Recovery court offers an alternative path for certain nonviolent offenders living with serious mental illness.
Column: After Swalwell scandal, a 'safe choice' for Democrats emerges
Xavier Becerra's appeal as a steady, non-flashy candidate for governor may be his biggest advantage after former Rep. Eric Swalwell was forced to drop out amid scandal.
Wall Street Bets: Penn Entertainment, Flutter/DraftKings, Double Down Interactive, GLPI
Penn Entertainment Macquarie’s Chad Beynon looked at Penn Entertainment on April 24: The Penn story continues to focus on the disconnect between near-term no...
All the new restaurants, things to do coming to Cannon Beach in Mesa
Cannon Beach is a major development in Mesa that houses Revel Surf. But there's a lot more dining and entertainment options coming soon.
Inside the endoscopic revolution in weight loss
Article explains how bariatric endoscopy — including endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty and transoral outlet reduction — combined with metabolic therapies and GLP-1 receptor agonists is expanding nonsurgical obesity treatment options and reframing obesity as a chronic, multifactorial disease.
Scores of Lebanon’s paramedics killed in Israeli attacks
A paramedic’s death reverberates through a community in Lebanon, and raises fears of wider trend.
W Sports Bar's Uncertain Future, Cavs Lose Game 4: CLE Daily
Also in our daily news roundup for April 27, a shooting at a Strongsville Costco and Southwest Airlines launches a new winter nonstop.
Ubuntu Linux Will Begin Landing AI Features Throughout The Next Year
Now that Ubuntu 26.04 LTS has shipped, Canonical is opening up on their next major focus for Ubuntu development: lots of AI features.
Allied Gaming backer says no share sales through 2026—with no lock-up
Primo said it will not transfer or sell Allied shares through Dec. 31, 2026. The company said the commitment is non-binding and has no written lock-up.
Health Care: Our Plan for Taking Care of ME
Maine’s health care is under threat. From closures to unaffordable premiums, policies like the Big Beautiful Bill are making an already terrible problem worse. Health care is nonnegotiable, and we plan to make health care affordable, wide-ranging, and invest in medical education.
Essential Arsenal news: Weekend roundup
Don’t have time to read everything about Arsenal? Let us catch you up…Arsenal’s weekend brought a return to the top, a major European win for the women and more concern lower down the academy pa...
A Look At Accel Entertainment (ACEL) Valuation After Recent Share Price Momentum
Recent performance and business snapshot Accel Entertainment (ACEL) has attracted fresh attention after recent share price moves, with the stock showing positive returns over the past week, month and past 3 months, prompting investors to reassess its fundamentals. The company operates distributed gaming terminals, redemption devices with ATM functionality and other amusement equipment in non casino venues across the United States, including restaurants, bars, truck stops and convenience...
Lebanon health ministry says Israeli strikes kill 14 in deadliest day since ceasefire began
The Israeli government and Hezbollah have traded blame over breaches to the truce, which is set to run for several more weeks
Sun Pharma signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Organon
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (Reuters: SUN.BO, Bloomberg: SUNP IN, NSE: SUNPHARMA, BSE: 524715) (together with its subsidiaries and/or associated co...
Building Hope launching mental health focused programs throughout May
Editor’s note — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is...
Arsenal & City title run-in fixtures become clearer
Manchester City’s progression to the FA Cup final has provided a little more clarity on their Premier League run-in, with Arsenal’s fixtures also largely now sorted.Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Imag...
North Augusta Chamber announces 2025 Business Awards at first-ever summit
North Augusta Chamber of Commerce on April 23 announced the top businesses of 2025 during its first-ever business summit. Here’s who won in best nonprofit, micro-business, small and large business.
Overnight Science Digest: Rethinking thinking by examining animal and AI intelligences
This week’s science news theme—the convoluted relationships between humans and non-human intelligences—arose from an unexpected combination of two dichotomous groups, wildlife and AI. I’ve added in a…
High school sports results for Saturday, April 25, 2026
SATURDAY’S RESULTS Baseball NON-SECTION Ligonier Valley 4, Laurel Highlands 2 Softball NON-SECTION Neshannock 13, Elizabeth Forward 0 (5) Wilmington...
Black-owned Tennessee business sues workforce board over limiting federal funds
A Black-owned West Tennessee forklift training business has sued the nonprofit in charge of funneling federal workforce training grant funds to students.
Beyond the Athlete conference highlights mental health in sports
Students and community members gathered in McKinnon Hall for the first-ever Beyond the Athlete Conference. Leaders in sport spoke about the challenges that Black or African American and allied community members, identifying as women, face during and after their athletic career.
Exclusive | The Soldier Accused of Maduro Bets: ‘Army People Don’t Get the Business Stuff’
Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly made more than $400,000, in part by using classified information to bet on the ousting of the Venezuelan leader.
Fruits, veggies can actually fuel lung cancer risk in young non-smokers: shocking study
✒️ Fulham star celebrates new contract with PL goal
It's been a fine week for Fulham full-back Ryan Sessegnon. The Cottagers defender committed his future to the London club this week by extending his contract until the end of the 2026/27 season.And, t...
Financial concerns are now taking their toll on Americans' physical health
Yahoo Finance's Senior Columnist, Kerry Hannon, joins Market Domination Overtime to discuss how money worries are hurting Americans' health.
The applicability of Hungary’s election to our politics
American conservatives, largely synonymous these days with MAGA save for a few lonely voices of courage and dissent, have plenty to lament. Their domination of the political landscape is waning. Various special elections hither and yon have presented bright, flashing caution signs. A very difficult, perhaps devastating, off-year election beckons. Major fractures have surfaced within […]
4 workers explain how they added AI to their job titles
Two Microsoft workers pivoted into AI roles from non-technical fields and said their humanities backgrounds were helpful.
Home runs and head-scratchers from NFL Draft Rounds 2-3, including Malachi Fields, Emmanuel Pregnon
Steals and reaches along with the best and worst fits of the NFL Draft's second and third rounds.
High school sports results for Friday, April 24, 2026
FRIDAY’S RESULTS Baseball NON-SECTION Armstrong 9, North Catholic 6 Avonworth 4, DuBois 1 Beaver 5, Mohawk 3 Belle Vernon 9, Mount Pleasant 2 Fort...
Warren County teen accused of stealing $25,000 in merchandise from golf business
A 17-year-old in Warren County remains in juvenile detention after being accused of breaking into a Lebanon driving range four times and stealing tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise.
Sen. Hawley calls for end to federal funding for Missouri reproductive health nonprofit
A Missouri senator called for the government to end funding for a state nonprofit that provides free reproductive health care.
Kalshi blocked Gannon Van Dyke, soldier charged in Polymarket trades
Gannon Van Dyke was blocked by Kalshi but got onto Polymarket and allegedly profited off trades informed by military secrets.
Jim France stepping down as NASCAR CEO, paving way for first non-France family member to lead the sport
Steve O'Donnell is taking over operations of America's leading auto racing series.
State agency plagued with leadership turnover hired deputy commissioner accused of taking $99K from Colorado nonprofit
The former regional executive director of CASA of Adams and Broomfield counties was hired by the state Behavioral Health Administration in November
A Los Angeles Woman Was Lost. An Ambitious Mental Health Program Gave Her a Sense of Purpose
The novel experiment in community care, concentrated in Hollywood, was inspired by the mental health system in Trieste, Italy.
Barry Mano, Who Gave Sports Referees a Voice (and More), Dies at 82
With Referee magazine and a nonprofit advocacy group, he created a community and support system for sports officials
Save NASA Science returns to Capitol Hill
The 2026 Day of Action brought more than 130 space advocates from 34 states and the District of Columbia to the nation’s capital to advocate for space.
‘A career milestone’: Sports and entertainment attorney details whirlwind of draft night
The transition from college football to the NFL is a significant shift for players, according to sports attorney Melinda Morris Zanoni.
Winter Garden hires firm to assist displaced downtown businesses
Winter Garden city commissioners approved hiring Retail Strategies Inc. to help small businesses affected by lease non-renewals along Plant Street.
Civil-Military Relations under the Trump Administration (Part I) -- Politicians and Military Leaders | List of Articles | International Information Network Analysis
IINA provides ongoing analysis of international affairs both by region—such as North America, China, and Europe—and by such topics as human security, nontraditional security threats, and cyber security. The articles on this site, written by experts at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and guest contributors, are carefully selected for their objectivity, accuracy, timeliness, and relevance for Japan.
Trump Says Israel and Lebanon Agree to Extend Cease-Fire by Three Weeks
The president made the announcement after he hosted a meeting at the White House of Israeli and Lebanese diplomats.
WATCH: Trump announces Israel and Lebanon have agreed to 3-week ceasefire extension
UofL trustees approve creation of non-profit to generate more money for sports
It was a big day for the sports department at the University of Louisville.
Friends of Zoo, Onondaga County sign agreement after negotiations turned tough
A $1 million donation to the aquarium served as a backdrop to discussions.
The intersection of music in sports: behind the curtain
Music and sports are great separately, but when placed together, they create an atmosphere like no other. Correspondent Molly McCleary examines how music in sports, like gymnastics and softball, is essential for both the players and fans.
Southern Bancorp Community Partners names entrepreneurship leader - Talk Business & Politics
Southern Bancorp Community Partners (SBCP), the nonprofit loan fund and financial development organization of Southern Bancorp, Inc., announced that Jorge González has joined the institution as an Entrepreneurship Development Officer....
Southern Bancorp Community Partners names entrepreneurship leader - Talk Business & Politics
Southern Bancorp Community Partners (SBCP), the nonprofit loan fund and financial development organization of Southern Bancorp, Inc., announced that Jorge González has joined the institution as an Entrepreneurship Development Officer....
Big Health System CEOs to Testify Before Congress as Health Care Costs Continue to Skyrocket
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee announced a hearing next week with hospital system CEOs, Families USA, the longtime national nonpartisan health care consumer advocacy organization, released the following statement by its executive director, Anthony Wright: “The CEOs of the big hospital chains have some explaining to do […]
AI just discovered new physics in the fourth state of matter
Physicists have taken a major step toward using AI not just to analyze data, but to uncover entirely new laws of nature. By combining a specially designed neural network with precise 3D tracking of particles in a dusty plasma—a strange “fourth state of matter” found from space to wildfires—the team revealed hidden patterns in how particles interact. Their model captured complex, one-way (non-reciprocal) forces with over 99% accuracy and even overturned long-held assumptions about how these forces behave.
PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) Exceeds Q1 CY2026 Expectations
Casino, sports betting and entertainment operator PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) reported Q1 CY2026 results exceeding the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 6.4% year on year to $1.78 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.11 per share was significantly above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Indiana hospital systems meet benchmark on direct-to-employer health care deals
Nonprofit hospital systems are required under Indiana law to offer direct-to-employer arrangements at or below 260% of Medicaid pricing.
'I wasn't told to give up non-veg food,' says Mumtaz on marrying a Hindu: 'We never differentiated between religions'
Veteran actor Mumtaz, who began working in films as a child artist in 1952, had a challenging start before rising to stardom. In her early years, she .
Candidates for California Governor Debate: 5 Takeaways
The nonpartisan primary remains volatile after the departure of Eric Swalwell. A televised debate featured six leading candidates, but produced few fireworks.
MHS sports weekly notebook from the diamond to the court
High fives for boys tennis The Marblehead High boys tennis team (5-1) made it five in a row after beating hosts Swampscott (5-0, April 13) and non-league Lynnfield (4-1, April 16) last week. It’s always good to beat your longtime rival, and that’s what the Magicians did to the Big Blue, under the direction of
Speed over science?
A new executive order could fast-track approval of psychedelic drugs for mental illness, raising hopes for breakthrough treatments while prompting…
Trump brings his nonsense about mail-in ballots to Republicans’ Virginia defeat
President Donald Trump has lied for years that elections Republicans lost fair and square were “rigged” by mail-in ballots. On Wednesday, he brought his familiar playbook to the aftermath of the Virginia redistricting referendum Republicans lost on Tuesday.
Onondaga County at odds with local nonprofit over aquarium donation ask
The non-profit says Onondaga County officials had asked them to donate $1 million to the county's new aquarium currently under construction.
Four receive 2026 L&S Academic Advising Awards
Awards honor faculty and staff who have demonstrated exemplary performance both in terms of their positive impact on students and through distinctive…
2026 L&S Academic Staff Career Awards Announced
Five receive L&S Academic Staff Career Award honors in three categories: Early Career, Mid-Career, and the Judith Craig Distinguished Service Award.
Four receive 2026 University Staff Excellence Awards
The University Staff Excellence Awards honor staff members for their excellence in effectiveness, innovation, creativity, originality, leadership,…
Monongalia County Commission looks to sell health department property; commission also retains attorney to oppose MARL
Meeting held Wednesday in Morgantown.
Black-owned Jackson business sues workforce board over limiting federal funds for student training
A Black-owned West Tennessee forklift training business sued the nonprofit in charge of handing out federal workforce training grant funds.
2026 L&S Academic Staff Teaching Excellence Awards
The Dean of the College of Letters & Science honors outstanding instructional academic staff for their excellence in teaching and mentoring undergraduate…
Shigeru Miyamoto wants Peach's backstory in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie to remain canon in future Nintendo games
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie delves more into Princess Peach's background, and Shigeru Miyamoto wants Nintendo to adhere to this in future games.
Record number of athletes sign to play college sports from this Athens-area high school
Here's where the Athens-area class of 2026 signed to play college sports in April.
Crab Fest returns with packed entertainment lineup
The Astoria Warrenton Crab and Wine Festival is back for a lively weekend of fresh seafood and nonstop entertainment taking place from April 24-26 at the Clatsop County Fair and […]
Mythos found 271 Firefox flaws – but none a human couldn’t spot
: Mozilla CTO says AI means developers finally have a chance to get on top of security
Why forest conservation is also public health
In a lowland forest in southeastern Madagascar, what was missing proved as telling as what was found. Researchers trapping small mammals in the Manombo Special Reserve caught tuft-tailed rats in the intact interior forest. In the nearby littoral forest, despite repeated efforts, they found none. The traps held black rats instead. The observation appears in […]
Trump warns US 'won't have much of an Olympic team anymore' without new college sports regulations
Trump warns U.S. Olympic team future is at risk without regulation to protect non-revenue college sports, speaking at a White House NCAA ceremony.
How Al Gore Politicized Climate Science
An Inconvenient Truth turns 20 next month. In the 2006 documentary, former vice president Al Gore argued that human-driven climate change was an urgent, civilization-threatening crisis. The film became a cultural phenomenon, winning two Academy Awards and making climate change one of the defining political issues of our time. I am sure that there will be many retrospectives seeking to relitigate the scientific claims in the film. But the far more important anniversary story is not about the accuracy of any of Gore’s individual claims but rather about what the film helped to unleash in the scientific community: bringing partisan politics into the institutions of science. Gore did not simply make a film about climate change: He implored the scientific community to join him in overt climate advocacy. The fuel that Gore added to the fire of pathological politicization of the climate science community is the most important legacy of An Inconvenient Truth. Almost three years after the film’s release, Gore took the stage at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)—the country’s largest and most prominent scientific organization—and delivered something much closer to a revival sermon than a scientific lecture. Gore told the assembled scientists that they could no longer “in good conscience accept this division between the work you do and the civilization in which you live.” His directive was clear:
Mystics, Monumental Sports bring a different kind of support to DC girls
The Washington Mystics and Monumental Sports, through a new nonprofit called EquipHer, gave away three free sports bras to every girl at Hart Middle School.
Internal documents shed light on Trump’s crusade to vet state voter rolls
The Trump administration has been working for nearly a year on an effort to weed out noncitizens from voter rolls using a faulty data system while keeping those plans hidden from courts and Democratic election officials, internal Justice Department communications obtained by CNN show.
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
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
I was a triathlete in peak health — but my 'wavy' vision problem turned out to be something devastating
More track records fall, plus chatting all things spring sports in L-L Sports Podcast
Lancaster-Lebanon League spring sports continue to motor right along.
High school sports results for Monday, April 20, 2026
MONDAY’S RESULTS Baseball WPIAL CLASS 6A Section 1 North Allegheny 7, Seneca Valley 3 Section 2 Hempfield 6, Canon-McMillan 3 Mt. Lebanon 8, Woodland...
Healthy diets spark lung cancer risk in non-smokers as pesticides loom
Younger non-smokers who ate diets rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains showed a surprising link to lung cancer, early research suggests.
Tim Cook proved Silicon Valley wrong about founders
Tim Cook defied Silicon Valley's founder myth, turning Apple into a $4 trillion giant and proving non-founders can build lasting value
Fremont Street Experience to host free Cinco de Mayo entertainment
All three stages will feature nonstop performances from noon to 2 a.m.
JRC Summer School non-animal approaches in science
The JRC hosts an international biennial Summer School on non-animal approaches in science for post-graduates and early-career scientists, sharing knowledge on cutting-edge non-animal methods, promoting their use in research and regulation, and exploring related career paths.
Head of the Charles board adds business leaders, aims for profitability
The rowing nonprofit just added PNC Bank exec Jon Bernstein and sports marketer Dave Mingey to the board.
William Floyd Science Honor Society Inspires Next Generation of Scientists
William Floyd High School Science Honor Society (SHS), under the guidance of Ms. Anya Swiss, high school science teacher, SHS advisor and NYS Master Teacher, recently hosted two virtual “Science Exploration Days” for elementary students across the district. During these interactive sessions, high school students led younger students through an investigation of Oobleck — a unique non-Newtonian fluid made of cornstarch and water — to explore the fundamental properties of the states of matter.
SRAM Quietly Releases Eagle S-Series Drivetrains That Are Not T-Type
A Half Mount UDH Plate adds protection to non T-Type derailleurs
Prego Has a Dinner-Conversation-Recording Device, Capisce?
The pasta-sauce company has partnered with the nonprofit StoryCorps on a device designed to record family conversations around the table and save them for all time.
Minor League Recap: Tugboat leads Akron to combined no-hitter
Columbus Clippers 12, Iowa Cubs 8 Clippers improve to 11-10 It was a home run derby in Columbus on Sunday, led by none other than the scorching hot Cooper Ingle, who went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a walk. Ingle now has a ridiculous 1.403 OPS to begin the season. It’s one of the […]
Blue Shield of California Announces New Leader to Drive Nonprofit Health Plan’s Innovative Pharmacy Services for Members
“What drew me to Blue Shield is that it’s a mission-driven nonprofit health plan that’s committed to improving member health and their lives — not just lowering costs for medications.”
South Uist business faces 'non-stop cancellations' amid ferry disruption
Archie MacLellan, who owns Uist Travel Accomodation, says he has had many cancellations.
How a Kentucky county uses flowers to fight stigma around mental health
The nonprofit promotes mental health through Hope Gardens, which encourage communities to come together and plant and care for a garden of yellow tulips.
Chatbots often offer 'problematic' cancer advice, study finds
Popular artificial intelligence programs told users where to find alternative, potentially dangerous treatments for cancer and other health scenarios.