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.

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
In a survey conducted with public assistance agencies in 40 states and the District of Columbia, Dēmos asked about the feasibility of implementing an upgrade of voter registration databases based upon the records kept by these agencies.
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 research examines the effect of Indiana’s photo identification requirement on counting provisional ballots in the 2008 general 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.
Under the Voting Rights Act, any state-level change to voter registration rules must be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice. Georgia’s proposed VoteSafe program, designed to keep private the addresses of victims of domestic violence, was approved by the Department of Justice.
Research Projects
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.
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.
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
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