Election Reform Conference
May 07, 2009 - May 09, 2009
Nearly seven years after the passage of HAVA, Congress and state legislatures alike continue to face decisions about election reform priorities and goals. A recent conference held at the University of Iowa leveraged academics’ expertise to chart a new reform agenda. Participants explored a wide range of potential reform proposals in areas such as audits, registration, and voting technology.

Read the papers from the conference here.
Featured Resources
As part of a project conducted on behalf of the Colorado Secretary of State, the Elections Division has recently made available for comments a draft voter registration form. It will be accepting comments until October 30, 2009.
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.
Alvarez and Nagler critique an analysis of data on voter registration at public assistance agencies. This research finds that results attributing the decline of voter registration to PRWORA are overstated.
This is the statement by Senator Charles Schumer, the Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration, in support of the MOVE Act, given on October 22, 2009.
The Indiana Election Division published its Outreach Library for the 2010 elections. Among the resources available for both voters and election officials are guides for military and overseas voters, voter identification requirement outlines, and a handbook for election officials.
Research Projects
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.
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
FairVote develops and promotes practical strategies to improve elections at the local, state and national levels.
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.
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 2010, AEI
and The Brookings Institution