Resources

This study of California focuses on (1) vote-by-mail signature verification processes and (2) notice and remedy procedures for unverified signatures.

This research tests four explanations for how vote by mail voters choose to return their ballot, including the social rewards of voting, the costs of voting, trust in U.S. Postal Service and a preference to cast a ballot after campaigning ends. It finds supporting evidence for each explanation conditioned by prior history of voting.

Utilizing the 2008–2016 Survey on the Performance of American Elections (SPAE), the analysis finds that wait times have a negative effect on confidence as do challenges with the voting equipment and voter registration.

This explainer reviews public attitudes toward voting machines, ballot-marking devices, paper records, and related election technologies and describes how confidence depends not only on actual system security but also on whether voters understand the safeguards protecting registration, voting, and counting.

This paper, focusing on Colorado and Washington, finds that the implementation of vote by mail causes a significant decrease in voter confidence in both states. However, this decrease appears to be temporary, disappearing after only single election cycle.

This paper finds that the "winner" effect mitigates the effects from strong pre-election cues from elites. It also shows the effect of pre-election attention to the rigging issue.

In Washington, the research finds that distance to the closest ballot drop box increases one's probability of voting but primarily in off-year elections and primaries.

This research focuses on whether voters’ confidence is shaped by the racial or ethnic representation of poll workers and election staff.

This post-election survey reports on how Americans cast ballots in 2018 and how confident they were that votes were counted accurately.

This paper examines whether correcting information can overcome misperceptions about election fraud. It finds that providing counter information is generally ineffective at remedying misperceptions and can, depending on the source, increase endorsements of misperceptions among Republicans.

This paper finds that media coverage of voter fraud is associated with public beliefs about voter fraud. In states where fraud was more frequently featured in local media outlets, public concerns about voter fraud were heightened. In particular, the paper finds that press attention to voter fraud has a larger influence on Republicans than Democrats and Independents.

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.