Resources

Three experiments about election official messaging are summarized, which:(a) compare the impact of messages conveyed through earned versus paid media; (b) ask whether Americans are more responsive to messages from federal or from state election officials; (c) explore the impact of videos and static visuals.

This academic paper examines the administrative practices, official communications, or legal steps that help voters understand and trust election outcomes. It is relevant because trusted, timely, and nonpartisan communication is one of the main tools election officials and civic groups use to counter distrust. For this dataset, it helps capture the most recent post-2020 trust environment and the continuing effects of election denial, security concerns, and polarization.

Study investigating how to counter misinformation about voting and election fraud using a comparitive study between the United States and Brazil.

Using a preregistered survey experiment of nearly 10,000 Americans, this article shows that informing voters about longer-than-expected vote counting time induces a large, significant decrease in trust in the election. However, viewing a “prebunking” video in advance of being informed of the delay in results more than makes up for the delay-induced decrease in election trust.

This post-election survey reports on how Americans cast ballots in 2024 and how confident they were that votes were counted accurately.

This paper examines the efficacy of post-election edits in bolstering voter confidence and whether certain aspects of audits have greater impacts than others. Authors find that how an audit is conducted is more important than what an audit finds in influencing voter evaluations of election results.

Paper exploring how vote-by-mail ballot locator and notification systems, such as BallotTrax, can be used to improve voter trust.

This research finds that Black and Native Americans have lower levels of trust in elections when compared to white Americans. Asian Americans are not statistically unlike whites in their level of trust, and the trust gap that exists for Latines is partially explainable by demographic characteristics such as education and income.

This Pew Research Center brief reports public-opinion findings relevant to election confidence, information trust, partisanship, or expectations about the 2024 election cycle. 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 capture the most recent post-2020 trust environment and the continuing effects of election denial, security concerns, and polarization.

This NCSL resource summarizes state election policy, administrative practices, or public communication guidance for lawmakers seeking to improve accuracy and confidence. It is relevant because direct voter experiences—such as wait times, poll-worker interactions, and access to services—shape confidence in election administration. For this dataset, it helps capture the most recent post-2020 trust environment and the continuing effects of election denial, security concerns, and polarization.

One-pager examining the benefits and shortcomings using videos to increase trust among voters.

This Brennan Center survey reports on local election officials’ experiences with security, threats, funding, staffing, and preparation for the 2024 election environment. It is relevant because trusted, timely, and nonpartisan communication is one of the main tools election officials and civic groups use to counter distrust. For this dataset, it helps capture the most recent post-2020 trust environment and the continuing effects of election denial, security concerns, and polarization.