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.
Resources
Use our resource library to explore the latest research in the field of election science.
This research finds that explicit cues about rigged voting machines increase belief in such theories, especially when the cues target the opposing political party. Explicit cues also decrease confidence in elections regardless of the targeted party, but they have no effect on satisfaction with democracy or support for election security funding.
In this PhD dissertation, Bernardo develops a simulation-based framework to examine how in-person election system conditions affect voter wait times and throughput. Three core contributions: (1) observational time studies of voting operations across multiple Rhode Island elections to calibrate arrival-rate and service-time parameters; (2) discrete-event simulation models of polling-place operations under varying equipment types, layouts, and resource levels; and (3) application of the models to COVID-19 social-distancing scenarios, precinct-consolidation decisions, and minimum requirements for accessible equipment.
This National Task Force on Election Crises resource explains how election officials communicate results, conduct canvasses and audits, and confirm outcomes to build public trust.
Hostetter examines whether the use of electronic poll books affects voter wait times, finding mixed results that depend on context, including photo ID requirements and precinct demographics.
This toolkit helps election officials design and produce the materials poll workers need to set up and operate a polling place or vote center, including layout diagrams, signage, and procedural materials. It covers both traditional polling places and vote center models.
This paper explores how voting experiences and fraud perceptions influence voter confidence, revealing that negative voting experiences, particularly long wait times, are linked to decreased confidence and increased perceptions of fraud.
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.
This report reviews multiple topics related to conducting the 2020 general election, including meeting the challenge of voting in person during the COVIS-19 pandemic.
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.
In this paper, authors analyze how transitioning to vote centers impacts voters' experiences, noting that inadequate implementation may result in longer waits and increased voter dissatisfaction.
This academic article studies how messages from political elites influence public confidence in elections and acceptance of democratic norms.