Professor Johanna Birnir co-authored commentary on insurgent violence in the context of elections via Political Violence at a Glance's  academic blog.  Her blog article, "Understanding Insurgent Violence in the Context of Elections", describes a recent paper that finds that when insurgents commit extreme violence "it can have a large negative impact on the electoral success of the party most closely associated with it." 

Birnir and her co-author, Anita Gohdes, find that the effect  of violence is largest in the geographic areas where violent acts were committed.   "The party most closely associated with the insurgency only experienced (albeit dramatic) losses in votes in those provinces that directly experienced high levels of violence....Other parts of the country that were not directly exposed to violence show no signs of electoral punishment for the party."

Read the full write up Political Violence at a Glance's  academic blog.