The Future of Election Administration

Mitchell Brown is Professor of Political Science at Auburn University, USA. Her scholarship focuses on empowerment processes for marginalized groups, including electoral strategies and program evaluation for public and nonprofit organizations. She contributes regularly to the CERA program. Kathleen Hale is Professor of Political Science and director of the graduate program in election administration at Auburn University, USA. She serves on the Election Center’s Board of Directors and the MIT Data and Election Sciences Lab advisory board, and directs Auburn University faculty in CERA, the national professional certification program for election officials established in partnership with the Election Center. Bridgett A.  King is Assistant Professor of Political Science and director of the MPA Program at Auburn University, USA. Her research focuses on political participation, voter disenfranchisement, and citizen perceptions of the electoral system. Formerly a voting rights researcher in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, she contributes regularly to the CERA program.

1. Introduction.- 2. The Federal Response and New Considerations for Election Administration.- 3. Parties and Politics: The Evolution of Election Administration.- 4. Accessible and Secure: Improving Voter Confidence by Protecting the Right to Vote.- 5. Challenges in Voter Registration.- 6. Polling Place Quality and Access.- 7. The Evolution of Professionalism in the Field of Election Administration.- 8. The Elections Performance Index: Past, Present, and Future.- 9. Building Terminology in the Field.- 10. Diversity and Descriptive Representation in Election Administration.- 11. Election Costs: A Study of North Carolina.- 12. The Role of Election Vendors in Election Administration.- 13. Election Integrity in Ensuring Accuracy.- 14. Election Security: Increasing Election Integrity by Improving Cyber Security.- 15. Election Audits.- 16. Election Cyber-security.- 17. Special Elections Costs: Filling Legislativeand Congressional Vacancies.- 18. Increasing Confidence in International Elections.- 19. Conclusion.