Resource Helping America Vote: Election Administration in the United States

Executive Summary

History is as much about the actions of millions of people whose names we will never know as it is about the bold actions of leaders whose names are emblazoned on the past. The same is true for elections. Hundreds of thousands of people across the United States work behind the scenes on elections in one capacity or another. While we might not know their names, their efforts sustain our right to vote, the fundamental lever of democracy.

"Helping America Vote: Election Administration in the United States" offers a wide view of election workers' efforts and how elections are run in this nation. It offers an expansive review of issues from ballot design and the election workforce to recounts and court challenges. At the very least, we hope readers will understand the varied and significant challenges faced by local election officials every day.

Election administration, like just about all aspects of state policy, can vary significantly by state. The goal of this book is to provide an overview of how elections are managed, rather than detailed information on any one state.

This book takes a before, during and after perspective on elections. Chapters 1-7 focus on the key issues before the election, chapters 8-14 deal with the actual casting of ballots, and chapters 15-19 look at post-election issues, the unique issues affecting military and overseas voters and considerations that come into play for presidential elections.

Each chapter is divided into five sections: policy considerations; implementation considerations; voter perspectives; practical considerations; and resources. All chapters except the first also include interviews with local election officials from across the nation who explain some of the key challenges they face in a particular area of election administration.

Before the Election

The chapters dealing with what occurs before an election in many instances apply to year-round efforts by election officials.

The book's introductory chapter on governance explains the decentralized structure of U.S. elections, who is responsible for elections in the states and the minimum standards imposed by federal law that affect aspects of elections. The chapter also looks at who pays for various aspects of elections.

The key building block or organizing principle of elections is geography. Election officials need to ensure voters receive the correct ballot by cross-referencing voter addresses with several other data points. Chapter 2 on geography and elections explains how periodic redistricting and reprecincting are foundational to American elections and democracy.

Chapter 3 on candidate filing deals with the first big event on the election calendar: when candidates submit their official paperwork to local or state election offices. While the process varies by state, it generally includes verifying that a prospective candidate meets the necessary qualifications for that office, signs the necessary affidavit and submits a filing fee and/or nominating petitions, if required.

Ballot design (Chapter 4) is a critical election task. Election officials must ensure ballots include the appropriate districts, contests, candidates and any ballot measures. All choices on the ballot must be presented in a way voters can easily read and understand.

Chapter 5 covers voter registration, which is a crucial step in the voting process. States-except for North Dakota, which has no registration requirement-offer several registration methods, including online voter registration, voter registration at motor vehicle divisions and other state agencies, paper registration and Election Day registration.

While new registrations are verified upon receipt, voter registration list maintenance (Chapter 6) is ongoing and systematic. State and local election officials use the maintenance process to ensure voter rolls are up to date. Federal law establishes a baseline of requirements and ground rules, but the frequency, scope and specific activities of list maintenance vary by state.

The final chapter in this section deals with voter outreach and education (Chapter 7). Voters can't vote unless they know when an election is coming, how and where to vote, and what they'll be voting on. Voter education can take many forms, such as the creation of voter guides, voter-centric websites and sample ballots. It's also an opportunity to invite the public in so they can see how the election administration process is run.

During the Election

The most common method of casting a ballot is in-person voting (Chapter 8), either on Election Day or via early in-person voting. To provide in-person voting, election officials must coordinate staff and temporary poll workers, find voting locations, procure and deploy voting equipment and ancillary technology, address physical security, navigate both federal and state law-and more.

Absentee and mail voting (Chapter 9) has grown in popularity in recent years but has roots dating to the Civil War, when soldiers were first allowed to vote from the battlefield. Now casting a ballot by mail is common in many jurisdictions. Absentee/mail voting requires processes to identify who gets a ballot; how they get a ballot; how the ballot is verified, processed and counted; and security measures throughout the process.

Mostly mail voting (Chapter 10) also has risen in popularity in the last 25 years. Unlike some methods of absentee voting, mostly mail voting often involves election officials proactively sending ballots in the mail to registered voters. Each state handles this process differently, but all do provide some opportunities for in-person voting for those who prefer or require it.

Voter ID requirements (Chapter 11) vary significantly from state to state. For example, some states specifically require a photo ID to confirm identity, while others do not or may use some other form of non-photo identification. Election officials must run elections in accordance with state statute to confirm identity prior to voting and ensure that every eligible voter who wants to cast a ballot can do so.

The officials who run elections face several challenges regarding the election workforce (Chapter 12). Recruiting, retaining and training for both full-time and temporary roles in the election profession are crucial to administering accurate, trustworthy elections. This chapter discusses some common practices and issues.

Voting technology and certification (Chapter 13)-from mechanical ballot counters to complex lever machines to modern electronic ballot tabulators-are critical to ensuring votes are counted securely and accurately. This chapter focuses on the voting technology used to set up elections and record, tabulate and aggregate votes.

Many voters think of election night reporting (Chapter 14) as the end of the voting story, but it is really just the start of the tabulating process. While election officials report results on election night, these early results are unofficial and can and likely will change as more ballots are processed in the next few days. Outcomes are official only when canvassing and certification have been completed.

After the Election

Once the election is completed, most states use post-election auditing processes (Chapter 15) to check that the vote-counting equipment and/or procedures worked properly. States vary considerably in their post-election audit processes, including the methods used, when an audit is conducted, what is audited, who conducts the audit, what happens if a problem is discovered, and who can observe the process.

Chapter 16 on canvassing and certification covers the canvass of the vote, the final count of all valid ballots cast and the certification of the final vote. After certification, court challenges can delay certification and even delay the swearing in of an official winner. These steps often can take two to three weeks and are an essential part of every election.

As noted above, recounts and court challenges (Chapter 17) do occur. When the outcome of an election is close, a recount may be initiated automatically based on the margin of victory in the machine count, by request of a losing candidate or through a court order. Also, court challenges or contests to certified results may occur.

An important part of any election overview is the election calendar (Chapter 18). While many people think of Tuesdays in November in even-numbered years as Election Day, in many jurisdictions elections dot the calendar throughout the year. Over time, there has been a slow shift toward reducing the number of small elections voters face by identifying in state law specific dates when elections at different levels of government can be held. This can extend to requiring that local elections run concurrently with federal elections in even-numbered years.

Finally, the book addresses the unique concerns of military and overseas voters (Chapter 19). There are U.S. citizens living and working overseas, including absent members of the military, who cannot show up at a neighborhood polling place. These voters are handled differently under state and federal laws from other voters. This chapter looks at how that process works in accord with federal legislation.