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Voter Confidence in Context and the Effect of Winning (PDF)
Measures of voter confidence are often used by election reform researchers as part of their efforts to determine whether election administration systems are operating well. In a new report from the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, Morgan Llewellyn, Thad Hall, and R. Michael Alvarez examine the determinants of faith in the process, and find that support for a winning candidate and access to a voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) both lead to higher levels of confidence.

Read the report here (PDF).
Featured Resources
This report finds that the increase in the no-valid-vote rate in the 2008 presidential race in Florida was due to excessive overvoting statewide, not to the change in voting technologies.
Ned Foley’s post on Election Law @ Moritz delves into the issue of uncounted ballots. This category includes absentee ballots either wrongly rejected or arriving late (usually from overseas) and provisional ballots that haven’t yet been evaluated.
As election officials continue to prepare for the November midterm elections, Project Vote has assembled comprehensive recommendations to improve election administration in 11 states.
This report provides the results from an evaluation of five projects to improve election data collection in 2008. Overall, the grantees increased their level of core data collection, improving to 80 percent of the core data from less than half in 2006.
A pilot study examined the effectiveness of combining in-person training with on-line educational tools. Those who participated in on-line training performed better, were more confident in their work, and knew the specifics of their job better than those who had not participated in on-line training.
Research Projects
Project Vote is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) that works to empower, educate, and mobilize low-income, minority, youth, and other marginalized and under-represented voters.
FairVote develops and promotes practical strategies to improve elections at the local, state and national levels.
Dēmos is a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization founded in 2000. A multi-issue national organization, Dēmoscombines research, policy development, and advocacy to influence public debates and catalyze change.
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law is a non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on fundamental issues of democracy and justice.
Center for Democracy & Election Management was established at the School of Public Affairs at American University in 2002. Their broader goal is to pave the way for and strengthen democracy through improved electoral performance.
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