On Friday, Nov. 18, Emory's James Weldon Johnson Institute hosts an exploration of minority voting behavior and the limitations of polls and other predictive models in the 2016 presidential election. Presented in partnership with the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, “Election 2016: What Happened?” will take place at 7 p.m. in the Museum Theatre of the Carter Library (441 Freedom Parkway, NE, Atlanta, GA).

The 2016 election has been unprecedented in the post-civil rights era in terms of its racial rhetoric and surprising outcome.  The results of the election raise many questions about the status of minorities and how to interpret the voting behavior of all racial and ethnic groups, white and nonwhite. To contribute to this burgeoning dialogue about what happened and why, the James Weldon Johnson Institute brings this post-election roundtable to the metro Atlanta community as part of its Public Dialogues in Race and Difference Series.

Moderated by JWJI Director Andra Gillespie, an associate professor of political science at Emory, the panel features leading public opinion scholars who were on the front lines of survey research in this election cycle. Panelists include:

• Vincent Hutchings, University of Michigan, professor of political science and co-principal investigator of the American National Election Study;
• Adrian Pantoja, Pitzer College, professor of political science and senior analyst with Latino Decisions, the largest polling firm specializing in Latino/a public opinion research. Pantoja fielded the weekly tracking polls among Latino voters, which were co-sponsored by Telemundo;
• Janelle Wong, University of Maryland, director of the Asian American Studies Center and co-principal investigator of the National Asian American Political Survey.

“Election 2016: What Happened?” is the final program this calendar year of JWJI’s Public Dialogues in Race and Difference Series. The dialogues are presented four times during the year at venues around Atlanta, as well as on the Emory campus. They are designed to reach broad audiences — to connect Emory with the wider Atlanta community through evidence-based discussions of timely topics on race in the Americas. The James Weldon Johnson Institute is pleased to have the Laney Legacy Program in Moral Leadership at Candler School of Theology as a major co-sponsor of the series. 

Visit the JWJI Special Programs webpage for more information. RSVP and add to your calendar via Eventbrite