Elections Resources from Inside and Outside NCSL

NCSL has gathered websites for many election-related blogs and organizations that focus on elections policy, research and administration.  Some of these resources come from an advocacy perspective, and inclusion on this list does not imply an endorsement from NCSL.  

If you are aware of a blog, organization or resource that you believe belongs on NCSL's list of elections resources, please send us an email so we can keep this list as up-to-date as possible. Thank you.

 Blogs

Ballot Access News
Ballot Access News is edited and published by Richard Winger, the nation's leading expert on ballot access legal issues. Ballot Access News is a non-partisan newsletter reporting on efforts to include independent candidates and minor parties on ballots in the U.S.

Data Dispatches
Data Dispatches, from the Pew Center on the States’ Election Initiatives, provide data, research and analysis about election administration in America.

Election Diary
Maintained by Johnson County Kansas elections official, Brian Newby, Election Diary chronicles one election administrator’s preparations for the 2012 presidential election and beyond.

Election Law Blog
Rick Hasen of Loyola Law School explores the law of politics and the politics of law: election law, campaign finance, legislation, voting rights, initiatives, redistricting, and the Supreme Court nomination process. He also provides daily links to news and reports on these topics.

Election Academy
Doug Chapin, from the University of Minnesota’s Program for Excellence in Election Administration, writes The Election Academy, which provides a day-by-day, easily digested education in all aspects of election administration, often linked to new reports or to the news of the day.

The Recall Elections Blog
This blog covers recall attempts throughout the nation.

The Thicket (from NCSL)
Provides news and insight on all things relating to state legislatures; written by NCSL staff.

Associations and Institutions

American Enterprise Institute
AEI is a private, nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution dedicated to research and education on issues of government, politics, economics and social welfare. It is committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity and strengthening free enterprise.

Brennan Center for Justice, Voting Rights and Elections, New York University School of Law
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law is a non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on the fundamental issues of democracy and justice. 

Brookings Institute
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy and research organization based in Washington, DC. One of its major goals is to strengthen American democracy.

Center for American Politics and Citizenship, University of Maryland
The Center for American Politics and Citizenship (CAPC) provides citizens and policy-makers with research, education, and outreach on critical issues related to the nation's political institutions, processes, and policies.
 

Center for Competitive Democracy
CCD is a non-partisan, non-profit organization founded in 2005 to strengthen American democracy by increasing electoral competition. CCD works to identify and eliminate barriers to political participation and to secure free, open and competitive elections by fostering active civic engagement in the political process.

Center for Democracy and Election Management, American University, Washington, D.C.
The mission of the Center for Democracy and Election Management (CDEM) is to provide education, research and public engagement on the full range of democracy issues in the United States and around the world.
 

Center for Election Integrity, Cleveland State University
The Center for Election Integrity (CEI) at Cleveland State University, a project of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, draws on the expertise of both colleges in electoral and regulatory law, public administration and civic education. CEI provides research, training, consultation, and public education to assist Ohio in becoming the national leader in transparent, legal, efficient and accurate elections.

Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, Brigham Young University
The Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy (CSED) at Brigham Young University is a nonpartisan academic research center seeking to increase knowledge about the practice of American democracy. CSED is committed to the production and dissemination of research that meets high academic standards, is useful to policy makers, and informs citizens.
 

Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
Home of the Program for Excellence in Election Administration, which provides professional development programming in the field of election administration.

 
Demos
A multi-issue national organization, Demos combines research, policy development and advocacy to influence public debate and catalyze change. One of its main goals is to pursue a robust democracy in which all Americans are empowered to participate.
 

Early Voting Information Center, Reed College
The EVIC is a non-partisan academic research center based at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Professor Paul Gronke and his team conduct research on early voting and election reform, primarily in the United States.
 

The Election Administration Research Center, University of California-Berkeley
The Election Administration Research Center (EARC), based at the University of California-Berkeley, seeks to improve the administration of elections through research, education, and public outreach.

The Election Center (and the National Association of Election Officials)
The Election Center is a nonprofit whose purpose is to promote, preserve, and improve democracy. The Center is also known as the National Association of Election Officials. It provides training for election officials and a voice for the election administration community.
 

Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy
Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy (ELJ) is the leading peer-reviewed journal on all questions surrounding election reform and design. Providing insightful analysis from the top scholars in the field, as well as perspectives from practitioners and elected officials, ELJ addresses federal, state, and local election laws and practices.

Election Law@Moritz, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University
Election Law @ Moritz is a nonpartisan research, education, and outreach program conducted by faculty and staff of the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. As a center of election law expertise, EL@M is a resource for lawyers, academics and educators, journalists, policymakers and other civic leaders, election administrators and citizens interested in election law issues.

FairVote
FairVote is an advocacy group that works to reform elections policies so that every vote is respected and every voice is heard through bold approaches to increase voter turnout, meaningful ballot choices and fair representation.

Federal Voting Assistance Program
FVAP.Gov is a one-stop-shop for Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) citizens for absentee voting related information, and an advocate for overseas voting.

International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials, and Treasurers
IACREOT is a leading professional association for local election officials as well as clerks, recorders and treasurers. It provides professional development and networking opportunities.
 

International Foundation of Electoral Systems
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) promotes democratic stability by providing technical assistance and applying field-based research to countries around the world to enhance citizen participation and strengthen civil societies, governance and transparency.
 

League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
 

Long Distance Voters
Long Distance Voter is a non-profit organization founded in January 2008 by a small group of voter advocates with the mission to provide greater access to absentee voting information online. The organization is staffed by volunteers who work to put together online voter guides for every state.
 

National Association of County Recorders and Clerks
NACRC is a professional organization of elected and appointed county administrative officials, who network on a national level to share information and ideas. It is an affiliate of the National Association of Counties.
 

National Association of Secretaries of State
The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) serves as a medium for the exchange of information between states and fosters cooperation in the development of public policy. The association has key initiatives in the areas of elections and voting, state business services and digital archiving, as well as several well-established awards programs. 
 

National Association of State Election Directors
The National Association of State Election Directors is a membership organization that promote accessible, accurate and transparent elections in the United States and U.S. Territories. It is an exchange for best practices and ideas.
 

NCSL's Election and Campaign resources
NCSL maintains resources on topics related to elections and campaigns, including campaign finance, election laws and procedures and initiative and referendum.
 

NCSL's elections newsletter, The Canvass 
A newsletter by NCSL for legislator and their staff, The Canvass is designed to synthesize data, legislative practices, and insight from the 50 states and U.S. territories into an executive summary for legislators and key staff. It is provided with generous support from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
 

NCSL’s comprehensive list of ballot initiatives
NCSL’s nationwide, searchable Ballot Measures Database allows users to locate detailed information on ballot measures by state or topic area.

NCSL's database of elections legislation, 2011-present
NCSL’s searchable database for 2011-present contains state legislation related to elections; it is available for legislators, legislative staff, researchers and the public.   Other searchable databases include elections legislation from the years 2001 - 2010, campaign finance, ballot measures and initiative and referendum legislation.
 

New Organizing Institute
An advocacy group that trains community organizers. This webpage includes a click-through map that provides details on most aspects of voting laws.
 

Project Vote
Project Vote is a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that works to empower, educate, and mobilize low-income, minority, youth and other marginalized and under-represented voters.
 

Open Source Digital Voting Foundation
The Open Source Digital Voting Foundation’s mission is to create publicly owned transparent, trustworthy voting technology for any U.S. elections jurisdiction.
 

Overseas Vote Foundation
Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public charity that helps overseas and military voters participate in federal elections by providing public access to innovative voter registration tools and services.
 

Pew Center on the States’ Election Initiatives
The Pew Center on the States (PCS) works to advance state policies that serve the public interest. Its Elections Initiatives conduct credible research, bring together diverse perspectives, and analyze states’ experiences to determine what works and what does not.  It’s library of research, staff experts and pilot programs with voter information technology, data exchanges and more

Stateline
Stateline is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news service of the Pew Center on the States. Since 1999, it has reported and analyzed trends in state policy.  It can be searched by topic, such as elections, or by state.

Electionline 
electionline.org, produced by the University of Minnesota's Program for Excellence in Election Administration, is the nation’s only nonpartisan, non-advocacy information clearinghouse and e-newsletter providing up-to-the-minute news and analysis on election reform.

Sentencing Project 
The voting rights section of the Sentencing Project, an advocacy group, provides information about voting rights for convicted felons.

True the Vote
An advocacy group that trains citizen volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process and to actively protect the rights of legitimate voters regardless of race or party affiliation.  It focuses on training poll watchers.

Uniform Law Commission (the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws)
The Uniform Law Commission (ULC, also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws) provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.

U.S. Election Assistance Commission
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent, bipartisan commission charged with developing guidance to meet HAVA requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, and serving as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration. EAC also accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, as well as audits the use of HAVA funds. 

United States Election Project, George Mason University
The United States Elections Project, run by Dr. Michael McDonald, is an information source for the United States electoral system.  It provides timely and accurate election statistics, electoral laws, research reports, and other useful information regarding the United States electoral system.

Verified Voting Foundation
The Verified Voting Foundation is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization championing reliable and publicly verifiable elections. Founded by Stanford University Computer Science Professor David Dill, the organization supports a requirement for voter-verified paper ballots (VVPBs) on electronic voting machines allowing voters to verify individual permanent records of their ballots and election officials to conduct meaningful recounts.

Voting Technology Project, CalTech and MIT
Established in December 2000 to prevent a recurrence of the problems that threatened the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election, VTP has studied all aspects of the election process, both in the United States and abroad. VTP faculty, research affiliates, and students have written many working papers, published scores of academic articles and books, and worked on a great array of specific projects.

Voting Technology Research Center, University of Connecticut
The mission of the VoTeR center is to advise state agencies in the use of voting technologies and to investigate voting solutions and voting equipment to develop and recommend safe use procedures for their usage in elections.

For More Information

For more information on the issue of voter identification, contact NCSL's elections staff.