States Study Elections

By Karen Shanton and Wendy Underhill

According to a New York Times report, the recently-announced Presidential Commission on Election Administration will spend at least six months gathering and assessing data before releasing "recommendations for state and local election officials to reduce waiting times at the polls and improve all citizens' voting experience."

As that project description implies, state and local officials bear the primary responsibility for election administration and policy. So, a good place to look for data on elections is the research that is coming out of the states. Election officials in many states routinely take steps to assess their election administration performance and address voting challenges. These reports, which are often bipartisan or nonpartisan, are an excellent source of state-specific data and practical innovation.

NCSL has compiled a chart of recent election administration research from state and local governments. The chart, State-Based Election Reports (2010-2013), includes entries in these three categories:

• After-action reports about the administration of particular elections
• Best practice innovations for improving election administration
• Systematic reviews of, and recommendations about, election processes

If we have missed a resource in your state, please let us know. We will update the chart as we learn of additional reports.

Comments

[James Kester]

They better simply study social media.