As state legislatures across the country become more polarized, citizens are increasingly turning to direct democracy to protect fundamental rights and advance popular policies that elected officials refuse to address. But the success of recent initiatives, especially around issues like reproductive rights, has prompted a strong backlash from some state legislatures opposed to those efforts. […]
read moreFree and fair elections are the bedrock of representative democracy. The U.S. elections system, as disperse and complicated as it may be, has reflected the will of its citizens and promoted peaceable transfers thousands of times via federal, state, and local elections. Today, this essential foundation is under stress. Election administrators continually lack the support […]
read moreThe United States has a decentralized system of election administration, where states and local governments share the responsibility of overseeing election administration.1 The organization of local election systems can vary such that states allow several local offices or authorities to supervise election administration.2 In certain states, election administration responsibilities are divided between a local election […]
read moreExperts agree that the health of U.S. democracy has declined in recent years—but what does that mean? The United States is experiencing two major forms of democratic erosion in its governing institutions: election manipulation and executive overreach. Most obviously, after the 2020 election, the sitting president, despite admitting privately that he had lost, attempted to […]
read moreOur democracy is under real and urgent threat, from rampant disinformation and a surge in voter suppression legislation to politicians deliberately showing distrust in election outcomes in order to maintain their own power. And while the state of California and counties in California have adopted various pro-democracy voting practices and procedures, reforms such as vote-by-mail […]
read moreThis “State of Reform” white paper provides a landscape analysis of four structural political reforms, when and where they have been enacted, and the financial costs and electoral results of recent legislative and ballot campaigns.
read moreLisa J. Danetz has released an updated case study of Colorado’s administrative and legislative motor voter process improvements and voter registration systems. An instructive resource for states that may consider or choose to upgrade motor voter technology and/or adopt an automatic voter registration system, the updated case study explores the impact resulting from the state’s […]
read moreIn this report, we outline three exigent threats tot he election process following the events of the 2020 general election. Then, we provide 11 targeted recommendations to best address these threats in preparation for the 2022 midterm elections and beyond. The report reflects months of interviews with election officials from around the country and across […]
read moreThe 2020 presidential election was called the most secure in U.S. history, largely due to efforts to protect the nation’s different physical and cyber infrastructure. This was a triumph considering the physical, cyber, and even human assets that make up the election infrastructure have been and continue to be susceptible to threats. In 2020, many […]
read moreOur most successful project of 2020 Election season was the design and facilitation of a satellite office on campus for the Ann Arbor City Clerk. Grounded in behavioral science research, the project sought to increase civic engagement on the University of Michigan campus by providing education about and access to voting. We designed the City […]
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