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.

The National Voter Registration Act: Fifteen Years on
The NVRA was meant to increase registration levels across the country and as a result, increase participation in elections. Despite the fifteenth anniversary of NVRA in 2008, registration problems remain an issue, as Estelle Rogers, a Consulting Attorney with Project Vote finds.

Read the brief here.
Featured Resources
Studies on college campuses demonstrate that face-to-face interactions, rather than direct mail or e-mail contact prove to be the more effective method of registration for voters, especially those who are most likely not to vote.
After three consecutive years’ of governor vetoes, the Rhode Island assembly succeeded in enacting into law a teen voter pre-registration bill. It joins Hawaii and Florida, as well as Puerto Rico, in permitting pre-registration for teenagers.
Rather than submit a provisional ballot, some unregistered voters are able to both register and vote on Election Day. Same Day Registration has been enacted in nine states and the District of Columbia. This memo explores this policy’s effect on turnout.
In this analysis, the Election Reform Project’s Molly Reynolds looks at what responses from a 2008 survey can tell us about what the public prefers in terms of election reform proposals—and the limits of relying on such data in this particular area.
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.
Research Projects
Directed by early voting scholar Paul Gronke and housed at Reed College, the Early Voting Information Center provides news and research on and a state-by-state overview of early voting issues.
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.
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.
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.
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