“Lethal Elections: Gubernatorial Politics and the Timing of Executions,” a study by researchers Jeffrey Kubik and John Moran of Syracuse University, reveals that elec­tion-year polit­i­cal con­sid­er­a­tions may play a role in deter­min­ing the tim­ing of exe­cu­tions. Their research showed that states are approx­i­mate­ly 25% more like­ly to con­duct exe­cu­tions in guber­na­to­r­i­al elec­tion years than in oth­er years. The researchers also found that elec­tions have a larg­er effect on the prob­a­bil­i­ty that an African-American defen­dant will be exe­cut­ed in a giv­en year than on the prob­a­bil­i­ty that a white defen­dant will be exe­cut­ed, and that the over­all effect of elec­tions is largest in the South. (46 The Journal of Law & Economics 1 (2003)). See Resources. See DPIC’s Report, ​“Killing for Votes.”

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