Primary Season Dragging To An End

In South Carolina, the 2012 primary election season is not over yet. Both the Democrats and the Republicans have a run-off primary on June 26 because neither party had a candidate that received a majority of the votes in the June 12 primary. It’s just another bump in the road for South Carolina voters in the 2012 election season.

Another bump in the road has been the redistricting that has occurred in the state due to the 2010 census. In an effort to get a sense of the effect redistricting might have across the country, a case-study is being done on the primary election season in South Carolina (see “Redistricting: Will This Affect the 2012 Election?”).

Last week, readers were invited to take part in a case-study on the primary election season in South Carolina by participating in a survey regarding voter behavior.

First six questions of Voter Behavior Survey

Although the survey received 31 visitors, only 4 actually participated in the survey. This was disappointing and could have been due to its length. Since the actual conversion rate was so low (12.9%), the results do not seem significant at this point. As a next step, the survey will be sent out through some different channels to reach more people.

At the same time this survey was launched, a simple poll was launched on Facebook, asking Facebook users the question:  Did you vote in your state’s primary election? This simple poll received 12 responses, 7 no’s and 5 yes’s. There were also two comments received. Facebook may be a better channel in which to send the longer survey.

Since the launch of the survey, access has become available to the Horry County Republican Party’s email list, which contains almost 1000 names. In an effort to get a better sampling of how voters have been behaving in the primaries, especially in Horry County, the survey is going to be redistributed to these individuals via email. Also, provided by the opportunity of the June 26 run-off, the survey will be offered to voters at several different precinct locations.

This will also afford the researcher an opportunity to do some face-to-face interviews with voters the day they are voting in the June 26 run-off at several precinct locations. Another interview that could shed a lot of light on the subject of redistricting would be with the current governor of South Carolina. In a recent Facebook post, Governor Haley noted the following: “The people of this state never got a vote on the record on Restructuring due to Republicans Leatherman, Knotts, and O’Dell along with all Democrats including Sen. Nikki Setzler and Sen. Vincent Sheheen. What a disrespectful display of political gamesmanship towards the people of this state. Two years of taxpayer dollars and work wasted. Disgraceful.”

So, although much research has been completed to see if, indeed, redistricting has had an effect on the 2012 election, there is still more to be done. And this researcher is finding new ways to connect with her readers and the people with whom this story matters. As we wrap up the 2012 primary election season, please feel welcome to post your comments and opinions right here on http://constanttransition.com, or send me a tweet at www.twitter.com/#allisonadennis, or post to my Facebook page at  http://www.facebook.com/allisonadennis. I look forward to hearing from you.