Brief Election Administration at State and Local Levels

The U.S. is characterized by a highly decentralized election administration system. County or municipal officials typically do the rubber-meets-the-road functions of running an election, but the state and federal government each have roles, too.

The result is that no two states administer elections in exactly the same way, and quite a bit of variation exists in election administration even within states. Each state’s election administration structure and procedures grew organically over many decades as times changed and administering an election became an increasingly complex task.

The diversity of election administration structures between and within states can be seen as a positive or a negative quality, depending on who is looking, and when. Critics say the level of local control can lead to mismanagement and inconsistent application of the law. This often comes into focus in large federal elections especially, when the media and the public focus on how different the voting experience can be depending on where a voter lives.

On the other hand, decentralization allows individual jurisdictions to experiment and innovate—to see how elections might best be run for the state and the locality’s particular circumstances. The dispersed responsibility for running elections also makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to rig U.S. elections at the national level.

This page provides a history of election administration structures and an overview of election administration at the state and local levels.

History

In the early years of the United States, elections were an infrequent, clerical responsibility of a county official. These elections were also not time-consuming: Officials would announce an election and voters would come and vote. Voters weren’t required to register ahead of time and voting was done orally.

A series of changes to the election process beginning in the late 1800s improved election processes but added complexity. The adoption of voter registration required election officials to receive voter applications and maintain lists of voters. The move away from party-provided ballots to a secret ballot provided by local election officials required additional preparation and resources. The use of voting machines starting in the late 1800s meant they had to be stored, protected and maintained between elections.

Over time, legislatures formalized election administration policy in statute, seeking to provide some degree of uniformity within the state. With this came an increased need for state election offices to interpret these increasingly complex procedures and to help manage growing technology needs.

The role of state election officials has become even more important since the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002, both of which put additional responsibilities on the state, including more uniform procedures for voter registration, centralization of voter records and disbursement of funds for the procurement of updated voting equipment and improvement of election administration procedures.

Even so, the structure of election administration in the states today is still largely decentralized and contains a great deal of variation, although far less so than a century ago. 

Election Administration at the State Level

The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) mandates that each state designate a chief election official to oversee elections in the state.

• In 33 states, voters elect the chief election official. In most of those states, the elected chief election official is the secretary of state, but in Alaska and Utah the role is held by the lieutenant governor.
• In six states—Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia—the governor appoints the chief election official. In all but Delaware and Virginia, the chief election official is called the secretary of state. In Delaware and Virginia, the chief election officials are known as commissioners of elections.
• In four states—Maine, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Tennessee—the chief election official is selected by the legislature. Both chambers have a role, except in Oklahoma where responsibility lies solely with the state senate.
• In seven states—Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Wisconsin—and Washington, D.C., the chief election official is appointed by the state board or commission of elections.

Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., have a board or commission that oversees elections in the state or jurisdiction.

• In 10 states—Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin—and Washington, D.C., a board or commission oversees elections, and the state chief election official is a member of the board or commission. Appointments to election boards are usually made by the governor and confirmed by the senate, and boards are most often structured to be bipartisan, with a certain number of members from each of the major political parties.
• In seven states—Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Rhode Island, Tennessee and West Virginia—election responsibilities are shared between a secretary of state and a board or commission.

Duties of the chief election official or election board vary. Secretaries of state have other duties in addition to the management of elections. For example, they may administer business filings and licensing in the state, and act as the keeper of the state seal. Enforcing campaign finance regulations may be the responsibility of a secretary of state or state elections board—or even a separate ethics commission.

When both an elected individual and a board or commission are charged with elections, the division of duties varies. Rhode Island is one example of shared responsibilities. There, the secretary of state’s office manages ballot design, layout and coding; sending out mail ballots; certifying candidates; and overseeing procurement for voting equipment. The state board of elections packages equipment, supplies and precinct tabulators and delivers them to each city or town before an election; troubleshoots technical issues on Election Day; and receives and tabulates statewide results.

State-level responsibilities include ensuring that election laws are followed by local officials statewide; administration of a statewide voter registration database required by HAVA; assisting local election officials by providing training courses or materials on running elections in the state; and providing a process for testing and certifying voting equipment for use in the state. Some state offices also provide certification programs for local election officials on election procedures and may also help pay for certain types of elections, or a portion of expenses.

The table below contains information about the chief election official in each state.

Election Administration at the Local Level

Elections are usually administered at the county level, though in some New England and Midwestern states this duty falls to cities or townships. All told there are more than 10,000 election administration jurisdictions in the U.S. The size of these jurisdictions varies dramatically, with the smallest towns having fewer than a thousand registered voters and the largest jurisdiction in the country, Los Angeles County, with more than 5.5 million.

At the local level, elections can be run by a single individual, a board or commission of elections, or a combination of two or more entities.

In 34 states, the responsibility for administering elections at the local level is unified within a single individual or entity. There can be some variability within each state, and this categorization reflects the most common situation in each state.

• In 26 states of those states, elections are administered at the local level by a single individual, usually a county clerk. The election official is typically elected, but this can vary across the state.
• In 8 states, elections are administered at the local level by a board or commission. These are typically bipartisan, with appointments made either at the state or local level, or a combination of the two, and with input from political parties.

In 16 states, the responsibility for administering elections at the local level is shared between two or more individuals or entities.

• When election duties are divided between one or more offices on the local level, the most common division is between voter registration and the actual administration of elections. The division of duties varies greatly.
• As an example of divided responsibilities, in Arkansas an elected county clerk runs the day-to-day operations of registration and voting, including absentee and early voting. A three-member county board (two chosen by majority and minority parties and the third by the state board of elections from the majority party in the state) deals with Election Day procedures, including appointing election officials, delivering supplies to the polls, counting ballots and canvassing returns.

While most local election administration structures are uniform across a state, 16 states have varied structures within the state. Often this variation is based on jurisdictional size. Smaller jurisdictions are more likely to have elected election officials—such as a county clerk, recorder, registrar or auditor—serve as the election official in addition to conducting other county duties. Larger jurisdictions may have an election administrator or supervisor whose sole responsibility is the administration of elections. In Washington, for example, all but one county has an elected county auditor who is responsible for elections, licensing, recording and finances. King County, Wash., the most populous county in the state, has an elected elections director. Some states may also have an individual who administers elections in most jurisdictions, but an election board in larger cities.

The table below provides details on the structure of local election administration for each state.

Professionalization of Election Administration

The job of an election administrator has evolved from a largely clerical position to become a multifaceted managerial position with lots of moving parts, from managing registration and multiple methods of voting to providing voter education and serving as IT and communications managers. Given the complexities of the role, states and other organizations are seeking to provide the training and support election officials need to perform effectively.

• Every state election office provides some level of support for local election officials, ranging from publishing digests of election laws to voluntary trainings or even mandatory certification programs. There has been an increase in state-provided training for election officials, with 32 states requiring training in 2016, compared to 21 in 2002.
• The U.S. Election Assistance Commission serves as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration and provides a variety of resources of election officials, including election management guidelines, webinars, best practices and opportunities for local officials to meet and exchange ideas.
• Most states have a state association of election officials that meets periodically to discuss election procedures. These organizations also may advocate for election administration changes in the legislature. Electionline maintains a list of these associations.
• The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors provide opportunities for state election officials to exchange information and best practices.
• The Election Center (aka the National Association of Election Officials) conducts conferences, workshops and seminars throughout the year and also runs the Certified Elections/Registration Administrator (CERA) program along with faculty from Auburn University’s public administration program. These college-level courses provide professional growth and development opportunities for election officials, with the goal of continuous improvement.
• The International Association of Government Officials (an organization created by a merger of the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials & Treasurers and the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials & Clerks) holds events and disseminates information in support of local election officials.
• The University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs conducts an online certification program in election administration.