Resources

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

158 Resources

Jonathan Auerbach, Steve PiersonAmerican Statistical Association2021
Voting by Mail Academic Papers

The research finds no evidence that voting by mail increases the risk of voter fraud overall. Between 2016 and 2019, RBM (VBM) states reported similar fraud rates to non-RBM (non-VBM) states. Moreover, it is estimated Washington would have reported 73 more cases of fraud between 2011 and 2019 had it not introduced its VBM law.

Donald S. InbodyTexas State University2021
Voting by Mail Academic Papers

This paper provides a history of military voting by absentee ballot.

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.

Daniel J. Hopkins, Marc Meredith, Anjali Chainani, Nathaniel Olin, Tiffany Tse2021
Voting by Mail Academic Papers

Philadelphia officials randomly sent 46,960 Philadelphia registrants postcards encouraging them to apply to vote by mail in the lead-up to the June 2020 primary election. While the intervention increased the likelihood a registrant cast a mail ballot by 0.4 percentage points —or 3%—many of these additional mail ballots counted only because a last-minute policy intervention allowed most mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to count.

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.

Jesse T. ClarkPrinceton University2021
Voting by Mail Academic Papers

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

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.

Jesse Yoder, Cassandra Handan-Nader, Andrew Myers, Tobias Nowacki, Daniel M. Thompson, Jennifer A. Wu, Chenoa Yorgason, Andrew B. HallDemocracy & Polarization Lab, Stanford University2021
Voting by Mail Academic Papers

Focusing on natural experiments in Texas and Indiana, this research finds that 65-year-olds turned out at nearly the same rate as 64-year-olds, despite the fact that only 65-year-olds could vote absentee without an excuse in these states. Being just old enough to vote no-excuse absentee did not substantially increase Democratic turnout relative to Republican turnout.

Voter Trust Reports

This survey 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 helps explain why the 2020 election became a turning point in public debates over fraud, mail voting, certification, and legitimacy.

Daniel M. Thompson, Jennifer Wu, Jesse Yoder, Andrew B. HallStanford University2020
Voting by Mail Academic Papers

This research finds that expanding universal vote-by-mail has not dramatically advantaged either party historically.

Colin Jones, Robert M. Stein, Lonna Atkeson, M.V. Hood III, Mason ReeceMIT Election Data + Science Lab2020
Voter Trust Reports

There is increasing evidence that voters’ confidence in the outcome of elections, and more specifically, that their vote was counted accurately, is dominated by the whether the voter supported the winning or losing candidate in an election. Authors ask whether this winner (loser) effect is consistent over time and parties. Additionally, they test whether the strength of this effect on voter confidence varies across electoral level (i.e., confidence in a county, state, and nations vote counting).

Roxana Arjon, et al.2020
Voting by Mail Academic Papers

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