Resources

This report provides guidance to election officials to communicate about the work they are doing related to voter list maintenance.

Authors provide an overview of recent trends in election official turnover and provide an in-depth analysis of these trends in western U.S. states. They conclude the report with recommendations for building a resilient and stable election workforce. Recommendations focus in preventing and protecting election officials from threats and strategies for recruiting and retaining election officials, among others.

This analysis suggests that documentary proof of citizenship requirements would affect voters across the electorate. While Democrats and Republicans possess some form of documentary proof at similar rates, Republicans’ reliance on birth certificates mean they may be more heavily impacted by documentary proof requirements than Democrats. Additionally, wealthier and more highly educated voters are more likely to have documentary proof than others.

The 2025 Local Election Official Survey gathered insight on the views of 858 local election officials related to federal cuts to election security services, resource constraints, worries of political interference, experiences of threats and harassment, and the use of artificial intelligence in elections.

CEIR has surveyed states about voter registration database security every two years since 2018. These surveys have demonstrated widespread best practices in respondent states.

This report focuses on two of the most salient topics in list maintenance policy discussions today: mobility and citizenship.

CEIR interviewed and surveyed election officials in four states—Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Rhode Island—to create case studies about their experiences planning, developing, and implementing a new voter registration database system.

Using an original dataset spanning all 50 states, authors also analyze the experience levels of current and incoming election officials and variations in turnover by several jurisdiction and office characteristics. The report also provides recommendations for policymakers to help mitigate turnover and promote workforce resiliency.

This report uses data from the Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) Threats and harassment Database (THD) to identify and discuss trends in threats and harassment against election officials between 2022 and 2024. BDI found that election officials faced an elevated risk of threats around election time during the period studied. BDI publishes updated analyses of the THD every month.

Over the last two decades, states have implemented several innovative policies that streamline the process of voter registration, promote voter list accuracy, and create more options for eligible citizens to register or update their voter registration. Such policy innovations include online voter registration, same-day voter registration, and automatic voter registration. The number of states that have implemented at least one of these three voter registration methods increased from seven states in 2000 to 46 states in 2024.

This Brennan Center survey reports on local election officials’ experiences with security, threats, funding, staffing, and preparation for the 2024 election environment. It is relevant because trusted, timely, and nonpartisan communication is one of the main tools election officials and civic groups use to counter distrust. For this dataset, it helps capture the most recent post-2020 trust environment and the continuing effects of election denial, security concerns, and polarization.

This report aims to support election officials in strengthening poll worker programs and recruitment. It outlines state legal frameworks for serving as a poll worker, including voter status and residency, age requirements, and compensation. It also highlights state, local, and political party strategies for improving poll worker recruitment, such as community partnerships, targeted outreach, and improved training programs.