Resources

This research develops and applies a method to estimate how many people voted twice in the 2012 presidential election. It estimates that about one in 4,000 voters cast two ballots, although an audit suggests that the true rate may be lower due to small errors in electronic vote records.

This research argues that local challenges remain when maintaining voters’ registration and voting history information, which undermines the quality of voter lists and the integrity of the electoral process. It analyzes Mississippi’s Statewide Election Management System (SEMS) records and finds that voter registration and voting history errors are linked to the county’s active and inactive registered voter rates and demographic characteristics.

This analysis focuses on whether counties that had previously been “covered” purged voters at a higher rate than noncovered counties after the coverage formula was struck down. It finds increases in purge rate of between 1.5 and 4.5 points in formerly covered jurisdictions post-Shelby, compared with counties that had not been subject to preclearance. Most of the increase came immediately, as the effect in 2014 is substantively and significantly higher than that in 2016.

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 research finds that when automatic voter registration (AVR) is endorsed by Democratic leaders, Republicans (and independents) expect AVR to reduce the fairness and legitimacy of elections, while Democrats are generally resistant to partisan cues.

The results of this study demonstrate that state online voter registration increases voter turnout. The difference-in-difference analysis shows that the states’ implementation of online voter registration increases the turnout of young voters by about 3 percentage points in presidential election years.

This study assesses the impact of time and registration source on the rates of rejected voter registration applications by analyzing monthly county-level voter registration reports during the 2012 election cycle in Florida. It finds that there is a dynamic relationship between administrative and seasonal factors at the county level, which condition the rates of rejected voter registrations as the registration deadline approaches.

This report examines the tools state and local election officials use to maintain voter registration lists, which include Postal Service change of address forms and death records. Authors also review the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) efforts to ensure compliance with the National Voter Registration Act and address election fraud in 2001–2017. During this time, the DOJ's Voting Section investigated 99 alleged violations of the Act and filed 14 cases.

Pew commissioned a 2016 survey of almost 3,000 citizens in five Great Lakes states—Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio—as they exited MVAs after completing licensing transactions in order to determine the extent to which their experience complied with the Motor Voter law. Their findings touch on whether voters were offered the opportunity to register to vote or update their registration, how voters registered, and the mean transaction time to register.

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

The analysis finds notable discrepancies in how voter registration data are reported by localities into Mississippi’s Statewide Election Management System (SEMS), as well as discrepancies in how such data are reported by the state to the EAC’s Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS). This suggests that some localities face more challenges in managing records under a hybrid structure than others, which can disproportionately impact voters on Election Day, depending on where they reside.

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.