Thank you for following the work of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project. We’ll continue looking at the issues of election reform at AEI and Brookings. For new work on congressional redistricting, please visit www.redistrictingproject.org.

Protecting the Integrity of the Polling Place: A Constitutional Defense of Poll Watcher Statutes (PDF)
Academics and advocates alike find sending observers to polling places on Election Day extremely useful, but in some states like Ohio, their efforts have been challenged under state law. This article from the Harvard Journal on Legislation explored the constitutionality of poll watcher statutes, arguing that laws permitting their presence at voting locations are permissible under the U.S. Constitution.

To read the article, go here (PDF).
Featured Resources
This study explores voters’ opinions of vote centers, finding that voters rate them better than traditional polling places and that poll workers are especially important under this alternative model.
We reflect on the state of election administration in the United States almost a decade after the 2000 presidential election and suggest how additional changes in technology, election law and administrative practices might further strengthen American elections in the years ahead.
This report provides an overview of reform proposals growing out of a summit convened by Ohio's Secretary of State to examine comprehensively the state's entire election system.
This report explores a range of dimensions of turnout in the 2008 election, including the relationship between early voting and election day registration and individuals going to the polls.
This supplemental report provides in-depth information on each state's election system.
Research Projects
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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