Research Guides: Election Day Resources: General Elections History

Rare and Distinctive Collections

Classroom: Norlin N345

Reading Room: Norlin M350B

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Radio Address on the Right to Vote

Harry S. Truman holding the Chicago Daily Tribune with the erroneous headline,

During the 1948 presidential election, the Chicago Daily Tribune newspaper printed copies of its election day edition with the headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman," in anticipation of the loss by President Harry S. Truman to New York governor Thomas E. Dewey. However, the Tribune's assumption was erroneous - Truman won the election, and posed for this iconic photo (which was taken by Byron H. Rollins, and originally distributed by the Associated Press).

CQ Voting and Elections Collection
U.S. election results and analysis from 1789 to the present.

IFES Election Guide
Global election news and profiles of upcoming and past elections

American National Election Studies (ANES)
Times series data from U.S. national elections.

Federal Election Commission Campaign Finance Data
See how candidates and committees raise and spend money in federal elections. This financial data helps voters make informed decisions.

PAIS Index (ProQuest)
Covers global public policy and social issues.
Political Science Database (ProQuest)
A collection of the leading political science, public policy, and international relations journals, together with working papers, conference proceedings, country reports, policy papers and other sources.
CQ Researcher Plus Archive
Good for background information on contemporary issues affecting the U.S.
Politico Pro
This resource provides in-depth and timely policy analysis of the latest topics and news from Washington DC. The document drawer offers relevant primary and secondary source material, while the Data Point service provides infographics and other visuals to supplement hot topics.
CQ Press Library
Non-partisan. Includes CQ Press Almanac, Congress Collection, Researcher Plus Archive, CQ Press Magazine, Politics in America, Supreme Court Yearbook, Voting and Elections Collection, and interactive tools to retrieve data.

Historic U.S. documents

United States Elections Web Archive
The United States Elections Web Archive includes campaign sites archived weekly during the election seasons since 2000, documenting sites associated with presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial elections.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.
19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote.
15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869, and ratified February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote.
Indian Citizenship Act
Library of Congress blog post (includes links to original document and the American Indians of the Pacific Northwest collection)
Historical Background on Elections Clause (via the Constitution Annotated)
"During the Constitution’s ratification, the proposal to allow Congress to set aside state laws for electing Senators and Representatives was controversial."

Voting rights in photographs

Gallery of Suffrage Prisoners
The following individuals depicted in "Women of Protest" were among the many National Woman’s Party activists who were arrested and imprisoned for their role in suffrage protests (from the Library of Congress' collection, "Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party").
1965 Selma march participants
Participants, some carrying American flags, marching in the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965

Voting History of the Mountain West

The Road to the Vote (via History Colorado)
"On November 7, 1893 Colorado women won the right to vote. The referendum vote tally was 35,798 for and 29,551 against. The road to this achievement was hilly and bumpy with lots of curves and two major detours along the way."
Colorado's Legacy of Women's Suffrage (via RED)
"...27 years before the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution technically granted women citizens in all states the right to vote, [Colorado] enfranchised 10 times more women than had been able to vote in federal elections up to that point."
Stolen Votes and SIlenced Voices (via History Colorado)
"...Patterson v. Colorado, would eventually wind up in the US Supreme Court. It would have national ramifications the following decade, influencing legal battles over free speech that erupted when the federal government cracked down on civil liberties during World War I."
Laws relating to elections, State of Colorado. (via Colorado State Publications Library)
Link has access to digitized copies of 1883, 1894, 1899, and 1914 Colorado election law.

Women's Suffrage in Wyoming (via Wyoming State Library)
"The state constitutional convention debated the inclusion of women's suffrage in 1889 and incorporated it as universal suffrage in Article 6 of the state constitution, making Wyoming the first state to guarantee equal suffrage regardless of gender in the nation."
State Election History (via WY SoS office)
Election results, ballot issues, campaign guide, and more back to 1998.
Address upon Women's Suffrage in Wyoming by Governor John W. Hoyt (via Wyoming State Library)
April 3, 1882

State election results (via NM SoS office)
Official state election results back to 1990.
Voting in New Mexico (via NM State Library)
Links to information, rules, and statistics applicable to voters in New Mexico.
A History of New Mexico Election Laws (via UNM Digital Repository)
"The state of New Mexico has not been overlooked as a possible exploitation ground for "capital" and political bosses. Many election laws have been passed to out-wit the crocked politicians. Whether the laws are good and adequate, the author of this paper will not say, but a short history of the election laws will show progress along these lines and will serve as a beginning for a critical estimation of such laws." (1927)
" You Gotta Fight for the Right to Vote: Enfranchising Native American Voters" (via UNM Digital Repository)
"[T]his Article seeks to... [examine] the Shelby County and Inter Tribal Council decisions and provides some insight and effective responses with regard to their impacts on Native American voters across Indian country."

Campaign Materials collection, 1892-2022 (via University of Montana archives)
"This collection includes fliers, brochures, cards, buttons, booklets, posters, and other assorted campaign materials used by candidates in both national and Montana state or local elections since 1892."
Jeannette Rankin papers, 1912-1971 (via University of Montana archives)
"Jeannette Rankin, 1880-1973, was the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress. She served two nonconsecutive terms in the House of Representatives: 1917-1919 and 1941-1943."
The Power of Strong, Able Women: The League of Women Voters of Montana and Constitutional Reform (via Montana Women's History)
"The League championed educated, vigorous citizen engagement in government. National rules prohibited members supporting or opposing political parties or candidates. Instead, they investigated issues affecting government and citizens’ well-being, promoted informed political participation, and campaigned for the positions they reached after careful research."
LWV-MONTANA REFLECTS ON ITS 100th ANNIVERSARY (via Montana League of Women Voters)
"We ask all Montanans, regardless of gender, gender identity, ethnicity, or race, to help us in creating a more welcoming organization for all people so that we may build together a stronger, more inclusive democracy."
Women in Montana Politics (via the University of Montana)
"[This] exhibit features photographs and documents from well-known early twentieth century suffragists Jeannette Rankin and Ella J. Knowles Haskell along with information on contemporary activists and politicians such as Juliet Gregory, Missoula’s only female mayor, and Lorena Burgess, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council Member."

Historical election records and documents (via Utah Lt. Governor's office)
Includes historical election results (1960-present) and voter information pamphlets (1980-present).
Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, First Female State Senator (via Utah Women's HIstory)
"A pioneer in many respects, Martha 'Mattie' Hughes Cannon (1857-1932) blazed trails for women as a skilled physician, ardent suffragist, progressive public health reformer, and most notably, the first female state senator in the United States. "
The History of Air Quality in Utah (via University of Utah library)
"This digital exhibit... chronicle[s] Utah's air quality issues, civic engagement for air quality reform, resolutions, and improvements from pre-statehood through the mid-20th century. This digital exhibit also explores the role that Utah women played in advocating for improved air quality..."
Gaining, Losing, and Winning Back the Vote: The Story of Utah Women’s Suffrage (via Utah Women's History)
"Although Wyoming Territory was first in the nation to extend voting rights to women citizens in December 1869, Utah Territory did so several weeks later, on February 12, 1870. Since Utah held municipal elections and a territorial election before Wyoming did, Utah women earned the distinction of casting ballots first."