Hubwonk Ep. 9: Elections in Epidemics: Keeping Voters Safe & Elections Fair during COVID-19

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Join Joe Selvaggi and Pioneer’s Mary Connaughton as they talk with MIT Professor Charles Stewart on how states in general, and Massachusetts in particular, are adapting their voting process to keep elections safe, transparent, and fair during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Charles Stewart III is the Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science at MIT, where he has taught since 1985, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research and teaching areas include congressional politics, elections, and American political development. Since 2001, Professor Stewart has been a member of the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, a leading research efforts that applies scientific analysis to questions about election technology, election administration, and election reform. He is currently the MIT director of the project. Professor Stewart is an established leader in the analysis of the performance of election systems and the quantitative assessment of election performance. Professor Stewart has been recognized at MIT for his undergraduate teaching, being named to the second class of MacVicar Fellows in 1994, awarded the Baker Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and the recipient of the Class of 1960 Fellowship. Since 1992, he has served as Housemaster of McCormick Hall, along with his spouse, Kathryn M. Hess. Professor Stewart received his B.A. in political science from Emory University, and S.M. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Get new episodes of Hubwonk in your inbox!

Visit Pioneer’s COVID-19 Resources Page

Browse Recent Episodes

Public Union Constitutionality: Returning Government Accountability to the People

/
Joe Selvaggi talks with Philip K. Howard about the legal theories in his newly released book, Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions, which questions whether the structure of public employees unions frustrates the will of the people, and abrogates the responsibility of elected officials to an unelected and unaccountable privileged class.

Realizing Rent Control: Targeted Tenant Relief or Broad-Based Road to Ruin

/
Joe Selvaggi talks with Greater Boston Real Estate Board’s President and CEO Greg Vasil about the likely effect on all residents of Boston of Mayor Wu's rent control proposal now before the City Council.

Unchecked Agency Power: Consumer Safety Bans Fair Process

/
Joe Selvaggi talks with Pacific Legal Foundation senior attorney Oliver Dunford about his work on Leachco v. Consumer Product Safety Commission, a case challenging the constitutionality of an executive agency structure (CPSC), in which leadership is beyond presidential removal, which uses its product safety mandate to ban products with no independent recourse for producers.

Cooking Without Gas: Stove Ban a Plan or Conspiracy Theory

/
Joe Selvaggi talks with reporter and author of six climate policy books Robert Bryce about his investigation into the statements made by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissioner about the safety of gas cooking and the origins of the movement that assert that such appliances could be and should be banned.

Innovation Reduction Act: Price Controls’ Prescription for New Therapies

/
Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s senior fellow Dr. Bill Smith about the changes to drug pricing laws included in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act provisions and discuss who wins and loses as drug companies announce their response to new law.

Residents Rescuing Refugees: Welcoming Ukrainians Yearning To Breathe Free

/
Host Joe Selvaggi talks with George Mason Law Professor, author, and immigration expert Ilya Somin about the newly announced Welcome Corps program which empowers Americans to sponsor and help relocate refugees from Ukraine and other places of war and persecution.

Sinking U.S. Shipping: Ineffective Law Creates Waves for American Economy

Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Cato Institute research fellow Colin Grabow about the failure of the Jones Act, a law that sought to protect the U.S. shipbuilding and merchant marine capacity. They examine its downstream effects on inflation, supply chain fragility, and energy access that directly affect every American.

Shopping Hospital Value: Price Transparency Mandate Brings Market Forces to Medicine

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute's senior healthcare fellow Barbara Anthony about her recently released paper, Massachusetts Hospitals: Uneven Compliance with New Federal Price Transparency Law, and how price transparency can empower consumers to shop for better value and encourage hospitals to offer more competitive costs.

Immigration Unbound: After Title 42 Comes the Deluge

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with Todd Bensman, senior fellow at the Center For Immigration Studies, about the conditions for aspiring immigrants and border security officials at the U.S.-Mexico border and the likely effects of the expiration of Title 42, a policy that had denied asylum claims during Covid-19.