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.

Ohio Senate Bill 8
The Ohio State Senate approved legislation to reform various aspects of the elections process. Among the measures are enhancements to early voting rules, adoption of a matching system between voter registration files and driver’s license data, and compliance with the recently passed MOVE Act.

Read the bill here.
Featured Resources
This article explores the constitutionality of poll watcher statutes, arguing that laws permitting their presence at voting locations are permissible under the U.S. Constitution.
Through an Election Day field study, the authors examine the commonality of lines at polling stations. They find inefficiencies in all three steps of casting a ballot, which they define as voter arrivals, voter is served by poll workers, and voter interaction with voting machine.
Although the Senate recount in Minnesota resulted in a winner, questions still remained regarding the classification of unopened, rejected absentee ballots. A district court concluded that these ballots are public data and that the plaintiffs, state television news organizations, may view them.
This report examines how statewide permanent voter registration is implemented in several states across the country, and suggests that this policy should be incorporated into all states' voter registration reforms.
This Project Vote study analyzed efforts in South Dakota, Kansas and Delaware to implement paperless voter registration systems.
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.
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.
electionline.org provides daily news updates on election reform issues, as well as deeper analysis of selected topics, including recent reports on voter registration, recount procedures, and the progress in implementing the Help America Vote Act since 2002.
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.
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
www.aei.org
The Brookings Institution
www.brookings.edu
© Copyright 2012, AEI
and The Brookings Institution