Resources

Use our resource library to explore the latest research in the field of election science.

186 Resources

Barry C. Burden, Robert M. SteinMIT Election Data + Science Lab2022
In-Person Voting Reports

This report examines poll workers in the current election environment, including recruitment challenges, training needs, and the role poll workers play in shaping the voter experience and in building public confidence in elections.

Charles Stewart IIIMassachusetts Institute of Technology2022
Voter Trust Academic Papers

The past two decades have seen a decline in trust in American elections that has primarily been driven by a slow but steady decline in trust among Republicans. Surprisingly, the increased polarization in trust most recently has been due more to Democrats suddenly becoming more trusting. Election officials must continue to try to overcome attacks on trust in the system, but it is unclear how long they can sustain the legal system guaranteeing free and fair elections without broad-based public trust in how elections are administered.

Ihaab Syed, Michelle Bishop, Sarah Brannon, Erika Hudson, Kristen Lee2022
In-Person Voting Academic Papers

In this paper, authors provide recommendations from disability voting rights advocates on how to improve the physical accessibility of polling locations and the usability of accessible voting equipment.

Gérard P. Cachon, Dawson Kaaua2022
In-Person Voting Academic Papers

This paper examines whether minority and Democratic-leaning voters in Florida receive lower poll worker staffing. Using data from multiple elections, authors find evidence of partisan disparities in staffing levels, with Democratic-trending counties receiving worse service relative to Republican-trending counties. They apply operations management methods to document systemic resource allocation inequities in polling place operations.

Campaign Legal Center2022
Voter Trust Reports

This survey / research report focuses on election misinformation, fraud narratives, or public misperceptions and their effects on confidence in U.S. elections. It is relevant because beliefs about fraud and exposure to misleading claims are central mechanisms through which confidence in election outcomes rises or falls. For this dataset, it adds evidence on one of the recurring drivers of election trust: experience, information, partisanship, security, or institutional performance.

Stephen PettigrewHarvard University2021
In-Person Voting Academic Papers

In this paper, Pettigrew demonstrate that for every additional hour a voter waits in line, their probability of voting in the subsequent election drops by one percentage point. He finds that negative experiences carry over to future elections disproportionately for underrepresented voters.

Adam M. Enders, Joseph E. Uscinski, Casey A. Klofstad, Kamal Premaratne, Michelle I. Seelig, Stefan Wuchty, Manohar N. Murthi, John R. Funchion2021
Voter Trust Academic Papers

Employing national surveys from 2012, 2016, 2018, and 2020, this paper that beliefs in election fraud are common and stable across time, and only occasionally relate to partisanship.

Phoebe Henninger, Marc Meredith, Michael Morse2021
In-Person Voting Academic Papers

In this paper, authors find that non-white voters are more likely to lack acceptable photo identification, and that those voting without ID are disproportionately Latino and Black.

Emma C. McCool-GuglielmoUniversity of Rhode Island2021
In-Person Voting Academic Papers

This MS thesis examines how polling place layout and path directionality affect voting system performance across turnout levels. The author models a two-step voting system in a theoretical 1,000 sq ft polling place using discrete event simulation, testing multiple layout configurations and voter routing strategies. They find that perimeter layouts with unidirectional voter flow minimize average travel distance and time-in-system across turnout levels.

Gordon Pennycook, David G. Rand2021
Voter Trust Academic Papers

This research finds that a majority of Trump voters in the survey sample falsely believed that election fraud was widespread, and that Trump won the election. It also finds that Trump conceding or losing his legal challenges would likely lead a majority of Trump voters to accept Biden’s victory as legitimate, although 40% said they would continue to view Biden as illegitimate regardless.

Bernard L. Fraga, Michael G. Miller2021
In-Person Voting Academic Papers

This paper examines which voters are disenfranchised by voter ID laws, finding disproportionate impacts on Latino and Black voters who are more likely to lack required identification.

Democracy Fund2021
Voter Trust Reports

This evaluation report examines philanthropy & trust-building in relation to the entry’s stated focus on election security; confidence; field-building. It is relevant to the dataset because it connects election rules, information environments, or administrative performance to public confidence and perceived legitimacy.