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Voter Access

Hope and Experience: Election Reform through the Lens of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project
We launched the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project in June 2005 with the encouragement and financial support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Five years later we bring the project to a close. We take this opportunity to reflect on the state of election administration in the United States almost a decade after the extended and controversial Florida vote count in 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.
Featured Resources
The implementation of convenience voting practices like vote-by-mail and early voting raises questions concerning the effect of these changes on turnout. Research based on turnout in California studies the effect of the increasing number of vote-by-mail voters in presidential elections.
This report explores an effort undertaken by Vermont during the 2008 election aimed at serving the state’s elderly population by sending trained workers to residential care facilities; it outlines the various benefits of such an approach.
The EAC's annual report on 2008 spending provides detailed information regarding states’ usage of HAVA funds, as well as data on competitive grants distributed by the EAC. Of the $2.96 billion they received from the EAC, states have spent 76% and are expected to use remaining funds in 2010.
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.
The security risks inherent in internet-based voting today pose significant barriers to the adoption of this method in nationwide elections. The author suggests changes to both internet security and the allocation of election tasks to improve the applicability of the internet in elections.
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.
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.
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.
FairVote develops and promotes practical strategies to improve elections at the local, state and national levels.
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.
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