By Amanda Zoch

“The biggest change since 2000 is that voting has gotten more convenient for, and fairer to, voters thanks to reforms to every part of the process,” says Doug Chapin, director of election research at Fors Marsh Group.

Running elections is a different story.

“It has gotten more difficult for election officials to administer all of the different means and methods of elections now available, according to Chapin. “Stir in growing cyberthreats, skyrocketing partisanship and disinformation with the continued lack of dedicated funding for state and local administration, and you can see why it’s exponentially harder to run elections even though it’s easier to register and vote than ever before.”

The 2000 presidential election and Bush v. Gore took elections administration from a sleepy public policy backwater and turned it into a torrent of change. The 2020 election redoubled lawmakers’ and the public’s attention on election administration. And now, as NCSL catalogs this year’s crop of election reform legislation, it’s useful to look back as we move forward. So, the February issue of The Canvass reviews how elections have changed from 2000 to 2020.

Read the newest issue for insight on how voter identification requirements, audits, absentee/mail voting, online voter registration and more have changed over the past 20 years.

The February Canvass also includes an interview with Virginia Senator R. Creigh Deeds (D), an explanation of proposed federal legislation HR 1 and other election news highlights.

And, if you like the February issue, you might want to become a monthly subscriber.

Amanda Zoch is an NCSL policy specialist and Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow.

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