AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project

Election Reform Newsletter, Issue #44

Election Reform Newsletter

January 23, 2008

On Topic: Technology Issues

The Act of Voting: Easy or Hard?

On February 5, voters in 15 states will arrive at polls for presidential primaries and find a wide variety of voting equipment. A new book explores a wide range of questions about how voters interact with their voting systems, while the Center for American Politics and Citizenship’s web site makes available a range of earlier research by the book’s authors. Read more »


»	BOOK: "Voting Technology: The Not-So-Simple Act of Casting a Ballot," Paul Herrnson, et. al., Brookings Institution Press (January 2008)

»	RESOURCE: "Research on Voting Technology and Ballot Design," Center for American Politics and Citizenship (University of Maryland)


Crawford at the Court, Up Close

On January 9, two Election Reform Project staff members attended oral arguments in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, the landmark legal test of Indiana's law requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification. In this piece, they outline their reflections on the case, explore the justices’ analysis during arguments, and discuss various lines of reasoning advanced by the participating lawyers. Read more »


Defining the ID Problem

One of the issues being debated in the context Crawford is how many individuals lack the necessary identification and would thus be affected by laws like Indiana’s. Drawing on survey data from three states, a new report from researchers at the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University suggests that the lack of photo ID may not be a terribly widespread problem. Read more »

New Resources

ELECTION ADMINISTRATION


Make Voting Work Announces $2.5 Million in Awards (PDF) The Pew Charitable Trusts and the JEHT Foundation (January 2008)

Election Law Maps Election Law @ Moritz (January 2008)

EARLY AND ABSENTEE VOTING


Getting It Straight for 2008: What We Know About Vote By Mail Elections and How to Conduct Them Well (PDF) Common Cause (January 2008)


TECHNOLOGY ISSUES


Voting Technology and the 2008 New Hampshire Primary (PDF) Michael C. Herron (Dartmouth College), Walter R. Mebane, Jr. (University of Michigan), and Jonathan N. Wand (Stanford University) (January 2008)

Trust But Verify: Toward Increasing Voter Confidence in Election Results (PDF) Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (December 2007)

MORE ON ELECTION REFORM

» Voter Registration
» Voter Access
» Early and Absentee Voting
» Provisional Balloting
» Technology Issues
» Election Administration
» Voting Integrity
» More Resources

Events

Check here for information on future election reform events.

» Events

About The Election
Reform Project

The AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project aims to synthesize election-related research, link the research and policy communities, track and assist the implemen-
tation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and encourage improvements in HAVA and in election conduct and administration.

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Understanding the Debate Over Electronic Voting Machines (PDF) | MAY 2004

Tova Andrea Wang, The Century Foundation

This article reviews the numerous issues and controversies involved in the implementation of electronic voting machines.

Residual Votes Attributable to Technology (PDF) | MAY 2005

Stephen Ansolabehere (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Charles Stewart III (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), The Journal of Politics

Ansolabehere and Stewart III find that in presidential races the residual vote rate increases as one moves from paper ballots to optically scanned ballots, mechanical lever machines, DRE’s, and punch cards. Lever machines and punch cards perform poorly in gubernatorial and senatorial races

Playing Games With Democracy (PDF) | OCTOBER 2004

Tova Andrea Wang, The Century Foundation

in advance of the 2004 general election, Wang examines a number of election reform issues, with particular emphasis on registration procedures, provisional balloting, and voting technology.

Analysis and Report of Overvotes and Undervotes for the 2004 General Election (Florida) (PDF) | JANUARY 2005

Division of Elections, Florida Department of State

Florida’s Division of Elections attributes the continuing drop in the Florida over- and undervote rate to a statewide voter education campaign and voters' facility with new voting machine technologies.

Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project Voter Authentication and Registration Conference | MARCH 2007

Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project

This report summarizes the sessions of the VTP's October 2006 conference on voter authentication and registration issues, as well outlining a set of recommendations to the EAC that grew out of the event.

More Resources »

Election Administration Research Center (EARC), UC Berkeley

Part of the Institute for Governmental Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, the Election Administration Research Center (EARC) aims to improve the administration of elections.

Election Law @ Moritz

Election Law @ Moritz, run through Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University, contains both explanation and commentary on a wealth of election reform issues from a legal perspective.

Early Voting Information Center

Reed College

Directed by early voting scholar Paul Gronke and housed at Reed College, the Early Voting Information Center provides news and research on and a state-by-state overview of early voting issues.

Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project

This project aims to evaluate the current state of reliability and uniformity of U.S. voting systems; to establish uniform attributes and quantitative guidelines for performance and reliability of voting systems; and to propose specific uniform guidelines and requirements for reliable voting systems

Center for American Politics and Citizenship

University of Maryland

As part of its broader research focus on elections, campaign ethics, campaign finance, and the legislative process, the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland is engaged in research projects on voting technology and ballot design specifically.

More Research Projects »