Research Reports

21 - 30 of 101 results

  • Uniformity in Election Administration: A 2008 Survey of Swing State County Clerks--National Edition

    The Democracy SOS Project is aimed to increase transparency in election administration and monitor actions of election officials, starting with Secretaries of State. The following reports are a compilation of the results of surveying county clerks in 10 "swing states" during the 2008 Presidential Election. FairVote staff and interns surveyed nearly every county clerk in Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado and Pennsylvania, as well as election officials in counties with at least 500,000 residents in Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin. We asked questions designed to shed light on the practices of the county, as well as their interpretation and compliance with state law.

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  • Uniformity in Election Administration: A 2008 Survey of Swing State County Clerks--Virginia Edition

    The Democracy SOS Project aims to increase transparency in election administration and to monitor the actions of election officials, starting with Secretaries of State. This series reports the results of surveys of county clerks in 10 "swing states" during the 2008 presidential election. FairVote staff and interns surveyed nearly every county clerk in Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as election officials in counties with at least 500,000 residents in Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.

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  • Uniformity in Election Administration: A 2008 Survey of Swing State County Clerks--Colorado Edition

    The Democracy SOS Project aims to increase transparency in election administration and to monitor the actions of election officials, starting with Secretaries of State. This series reports the results of surveys of county clerks in 10 "swing states" during the 2008 presidential election. FairVote staff and interns surveyed nearly every county clerk in Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as election officials in counties with at least 500,000 residents in Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.

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  • Uniformity in Election Administration: A 2008 Survey of Swing State County Clerks--New Mexico Edition

    The Democracy SOS Project aims to increase transparency in election administration and to monitor the actions of election officials, starting with Secretaries of State. This series reports the results of surveys of county clerks in 10 "swing states" during the 2008 Presidential Election. FairVote staff and interns surveyed nearly every county clerk in Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as election officials in counties with at least 500,000 residents in Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.

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  • Uniformity in Election Administration: A 2008 Survey of Swing State County Clerks--Missouri Edition

    The Democracy SOS Project is aimed to increase transparency in election administration and monitor actions of election officials, starting with Secretaries of State. This report is a compilation of the results of surveying county clerks in 10 "swing states" during the 2008 presidential election. FairVote staff and interns surveyed nearly every county clerk in Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado and Pennsylvania, as well as election officials in counties with at least 500,000 residents in Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin.

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  • Delegating Democracy

    Parties have great opportunities to review and improve their election systems by incorporating reforms that give more voters an equal voice and an equal vote. From representative delegate allocation regimes to ranked choice voting and expanded suffrage rights, a political party's nomination process can be a true laboratory of democracy.

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  • International Snapshot: Australia 2007

    On November 24th 2007, Australia elected its House of Representatives with instant runoff voting (IRV), as it has for more than eight decades. After four straight election defeats, the Labor Party won a landslide majority of seats. Under IRV, Labor's initial 44% of first choices turned into a clear majority after considering the choices of supporters of third party candidates with too little support to win seats. The Green Party's 7.79% share of the national vote largely went to Labor in House races; that share earned several senate seats elected by proportional voting. Due in large part to compulsory voting, turnout was 94.77%; Australians rank near the top of national comparisons of voter satisfaction with their government.

     

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  • A Survey and Analysis of Statewide Election Recounts, 1980-2006

    NOTE: This report has been replaced. For updated information on recounts, see the new report: A Survey and Analysis of Statewide Election Recounts, 2000-2009

    This report takes an in-depth look at election recount outcomes and practices in the United States, using data from statewide elections held between 1980 and 2006. The purpose is to quantify various aspects of the process, such as the frequency of recounts, vote differences involved, and recount outcomes, and analyze how these figures vary with the size of the electorate and recount methodology.

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  • International Snapshot: Scotland 2007

    On May 3, 2007, Scottish voters used two proportional voting systems simultaneously: for the first time ever, choice voting (or the single transferable vote) for local councils, and once again, mixed member proportional voting for the Scottish Parliament. The local council elections saw increased participation and broadly representative results. Despite the first-time use of choice voting alongside a completely different voting system, error rates were, on average, remarkably low. The MMP elections ensured proportionality in seat shares and arguably prevented a wrong-winner result. There was early controversy over error rates allegedly around 10%, but actual error rates were lower. Later research moreover confirmed that voter error was due to critical ballot design flaws.

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  • Assessing Instant Runoff Voting in Takoma Park (MD)

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