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.

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.

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.

The Democracy SOS Project aims 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.

Fact in focus: Wyoming's incumbent win streak dates back 44 years -- the longest in the nation.

Fact in focus: US House incumbents in West Virginia have won 42 straight races dating back 26 years, including 2 repeat landside winners in 2008.

Fact in focus: Of Wisconsin's 8 US House Members, 7 are untouchable incumbents who won repeat landsides in 2008.

Fact in focus: Since 2000, Washington has never had more than one competitive race for its nine US House seats.

Fact in focus: In 2008, 67% of Utah's House races were won by repeat landslide winners, and since 1998 only one race has been competitive.

Fact in focus: In 2008, Democrat Peter Welch also earned the Republican nomination as a write-in.