Convened by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science
Main | Participants
Election Administration
Poll Workers
Americans’ ability to cast votes and have their ballots counted is perhaps
most directly correlated with the capacity of those who administer elections,
particularly those who work the polls. Yet surprising little information
is available on state and county investments in poll workers.
- How much do state and local governments spend on poll worker recruitment
and training? What if any standards or guidelines govern these outlays?
Are they set by statute or established administratively?
- What are model poll worker training curricula and practices?
- What compensation levels are optimal for attracting high-skilled individuals?
- What minimal skill levels are called for with the introduction of
new voting technology?
- What is the optimal ratio of poll workers to voters at any given polling
place, taking into consideration the kinds of technology employed there
on Election Day and any unique or special needs of the local electorate
(e.g., language assistance, disability access, historically low participation
rates, etc.)?
Comparative data on these various questions would be very helpful to
election reform advocates who argue for greater public investment in election
administration.
The Costs of Elections
What does it cost states and localities to administer elections? What
spending is sufficient for voters to experience a trouble-free election?
It is instructive to look at recent expenditures in Cuyahoga County,
Ohio. Election administrators there spent $8.4 million for
the November 7 general election to avoid a repeat of the severe problems
of the 2006 primary election -- more than four times the $1.9 million
that had originally been budgeted. Voter still experienced problems, required
a judge to order that sixteen polling places to remain open past closing
hours.
What are the incremental costs associated with various policies and practices,
such as provisional balloting and Election Day Registration?
How do these costs compare across states?
Distribution of Elections Resources
Other How many states have established mandatory guidelines for
distribution of voting equipment and voter/machine ratio, and what are
they?
Comparative Impacts of Various Policy Reforms
Policy makers and public policy advocates pursue various reforms to increase
voter participation. Reform proposals may include Election Day Registration,
state implementation of voter registration requirements in public benefit
agencies, early voting, mail-in voting, etc. Accurate data upon which
to project the potential and comparative impacts of these innovations
is often unavailable. Easy access to existing data and/or new research
is needed, especially as regards which election administration improvements
would produce the greatest results for different sectors of the electorate
(e.g., low-income communities, communities of color, youth, new Americans).
It is also important to have a better understanding of the spill-over
effects of various policy innovations. For example, policy makers interested
in Election Day Registration ask whether the move to EDR, where the voter-eligible
electorate remains undefined before Election Day, will require greater
campaign spending. Candidates may need to ramp up spending on expensive
television advertising to reach every potential voter, where more targeted
appeals to those on the voter rolls when the registration period closes
may have sufficed in the past.
Voter Fraud/Voter ID
Policy makers across the country are asking would-be voters to produce
one of a narrow list of government-issued photo identifications in order
to registration and/or vote. Proponents justify these measures as necessary
to prevent voter fraud. Opponents project the disfranchisement of millions
of Americans who do not possess the requisite ID. More research is needed
on the contemporary incidence of voter fraud at the municipal, county
and state levels. More precise data on the size and composition of the
electorate that would be ineligible to vote is also needed.
Redistricting Reform
Government reform groups link recent declines in electoral competition
with partisan and incumbent control over redistricting, and call for creation
of independent redistricting commissions (IRC). Roughly twelve states
now use IRC. Little research actually exists on the operation of IRCs
and their track record in meeting the various public interest goals associated
with redistricting. For example, have states with independent redistricting
commissions enhanced opportunities for minority representation in state
legislatures and helped produce legislative bodies more representative
of the electorate? Do IRCs actually provide greater opportunities for
authentic public participation and input in the line-drawing process?
What are the relative impacts of traditional redistricting criteria (e.g.,
nesting, contiguity)? To extent does the application of these traditional
criteria advance or hinder minority representation and lead to fairly
representative legislatures?
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