Record-breaking turnout in 2020, along with rampant misinformation spread after the election in an attempt to cast doubt on the results, has provoked some legislators into proposing new voter suppression methods. My team and I have been scouring pre-filed and recently...
COVID-19
COVID-19 and States of Emergency
The resources below detail the steps taken by state and local officials to prepare for the 2020 elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. State and Local Response Database Throughout 2020, we tracked state and local responses to the pandemic – a mix of executive orders,...
Protecting Against Polling Place Consolidation and Poll Worker Shortages
Six months into the coronavirus pandemic, we have seen a variety of election related disasters during the primary elections – from massive polling place closures resulting in long lines to poll worker shortages and absentee ballots not arriving on time. As we approach the final two months before the presidential general election, election officials across the country are frantically scrambling to finalize their in-person polling locations.
Polling Place Consolidation: Negative Impacts on Turnout and Equity
As states and localities grapple with how to run elections during the COVID-19 pandemic, increased access to absentee voting has emerged as an essential piece of the puzzle. In primaries across the country states have rapidly expanded access to absentee voting and have seen record numbers of absentee ballots cast.
Protecting Public Health in the 2020 Elections
Report Summary COVID-19 has affected the way we live and work—and inevitably, it will affect the way we vote this November as well. The Union of Concerned Scientists, the UCLA Voting Rights Project and the Voting Rights Lab will be co-releasing a report from...
Recommendations for Expanding Vote by Mail During a Pandemic
Executive Summary Our election system is unprepared for the current pandemic. The only way to ensure the continued functioning of our democracy and the safety of our citizens is for every state to provide every American with access to a mail ballot. Yet in order for...