A Mixed Bag: Provisional Balloting in the 2004 Election
JANUARY 2006
A Mixed Bag: Provisional Balloting in the 2004 Election
The November 2004 election was the first time all states were required to give provisional ballots to voters whose names did not appear on the voter registration list on Election Day. The results were mixed: although 1.6 million provisional ballots were cast and nearly 1.1 million were counted, standards differed considerably both between and within states, and many poll workers were apparently unfamiliar with the new rules. The Election Assistance Commission and electionline.org frame the issue with results from their recently published post-election surveys.
Featured Resources
Various jurisdictions in Maryland experienced polling place problems during the 2006 primary election, and this report summarizes the findings of an extensive investigation into their causes by the Maryland Attorney General's office.
The final report of the Commission identifies specific questions in ten election reform areas especially in need of further scientific research
On Friday, September 22, 2006, the Election Reform Project hosted a conference entitled "The 2006 Elections--Are We Ready?" After a keynote address by Congressman Rush Holt (D-N.J.), panelists discussed the progress that has been made since the election debacle of 2000 and the hurdles that remain.
Stewart III’s working paper examines the decrease in the residual vote rate between the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections and attributes it to better voting machines, as well as non-technology factors, including improved administrative practices and fewer voter abstentions
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.
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 American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
www.aei.org
The Brookings Institution
www.brookings.edu
© Copyright 2006, AEI
and The Brookings Institution