Durham, NH, USA. New Hampshire voters are about to observe their first-in-the-nation presidential primary. However, someone will be missing from this civic celebration: the Yankee Republican, that rural stalwart of New England conservative values.

According to new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, demographic changes have impacted both the presidential primary and the general elections.

Durham, NC, USA. The less people know about important complex issues such as the economy, energy consumption and the environment, the more they want to avoid becoming well-informed. And the more urgent the issue, the more people want to remain unaware.

The findings appear in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Washington, DC, USA. Moderate voters are more likely to cast a protest vote as a way of expressing unhappiness with a party during elections than those at the extreme left or extreme right of the political spectrum.

Writing in the journal Public Choice, Daniel Kselman says "the protest vote is just a way of expressing discontent. In order for it to be effective, a lot more voters from your party need to vote for other. However, if there are enough people casting the protest vote, strategic chan

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Voters prefer to choose candidates with lower-pitched voices, particularly men, a finding that suggests perceptions developed long ago may be still be influencing the way we choose leaders.

Cara Tigue from McMaster University, a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior is the lead author of a new paper in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.

Washington, DC, USA. Republican Phil Bryant will be the next governor of Mississippi, Democrat Steve Beshear was reelected as governor of Kentucky and Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce was removed from office.

Ohio delivered a mixed message by overturning a law that would have restricted the bargaining rights of public employees while also approving a measure to oppose mandates that everyone have health insurance, a clear rebuke to President Obama’s sweeping health care bill.