Resources

Using administrative and demographic data over six two-year election cycles, the research finds strong evidence that voter lists are largely absent of deceased registrants and that election officials have gotten better at removing deceased registrants over time. The data also suggest that election officials have a much more difficult time removing registration records of those who have moved out of the jurisdiction.

This research finds that get-out-the-vote efforts to target voters using absentee ballot request forms are effective at shifting more voters to vote absentee. However, while pushing absentee vote-by-mail balloting may bank votes for a campaign before Election Day, the overall effect of partisan campaigns’ use of absentee ballot efforts to increase turnout appears limited.

Using the largest California VBM dataset to date, this research finds that turnout among registered voters in VBM precincts is discernibly lower than traditional precincts in general elections, though the research is unable to detect an effect in primary elections.

This paper finds that voters with disabilities face significant barriers to in-person voting, including inaccessible polling places and equipment, which contribute to lower turnout rates among this group.

This PhD dissertation examines U.S. election administration through three empirical studies. Three core contributions: (1) documentation of racial disparities in voter wait times across polling places, showing that Black and Latino voters wait significantly longer than white voters due to differential resource allocation; (2) analysis of how the partisan and demographic composition of jurisdictions predicts administrative resource levels; and (3) estimation of the downstream turnout consequences of long waits, showing that each additional hour of waiting reduces the probability of future voting. Chapters were subsequently published in Political Science Quarterly and Electoral Studies. Advisor: Gary King.

This paper finds that Black and Latino voters generally wait longer in line to vote than white voters. These instances occur with longer wait times, usually observed in neighborhoods with higher minority populations compared to predominantly white neighborhoods.

In this paper, authors identify strong negative associations between strict voter ID laws and turnout rates among racial and ethnic minority voters.

In this paper, authors use administrative data on incidents at polling places to show that in-person voting problems occur at low overall rates but tend to recur at the same polling places across multiple elections, suggesting that targeted intervention can be effective.

This paper examines factors influencing voter evaluations of poll workers. The authors find that voters opinions toward poll workers are impacted by their experience with polling place wait times, feelings of privacy while voting, and poll worker training, among others.

This paper analyzes the contextual factors shaping citizens' decisions to volunteer as poll worker. Using the experiences of Mexican pollworkers, the authors highlight the role of sociopolitical contexts in affecting polling place operations, including the impacts of electoral competition and rising violence.

This paper evaluates the role of state policy and election precinct evaluations on citizen confidence in individual and nationwide electoral outcomes. King finds that valuations of voting precincts, specifically poll workers, polling locations, and voting machines have an effect on electoral confidence. However, confidence is not consistent and varies based on racial identification and partisan affiliation.

This study sought to examine whether voting equipment layouts impact anticipated voting system usability. Through tests with thirty-five participants, authors found that configurations of voting machines inside a polling station impacted all subjective ratings, suggesting that environmental variables might need to be considered when configuring polling stations to maximize usability.