Report

• Infographic: Online Election Tools By State

  Apr 30, 2013 - How do voters find the information they need on and before Election Day? Many voters turn to online resources, such as state election websites, to find polling locations, absentee ballot and provisional ballot information before casting their vote.

  Read More

• Election Initiatives Response to Bipartisan Voting Commission Announcement

  Feb 13, 2013 - In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama announced a commission to improve the voting experience on Election Day. This is an important step forward. Pew’s election initiatives director David Becker released the following in response to the President’s announcement.

  Read More

• New Tool Measures Election Administration in 50 States, D.C.

  Feb 05, 2013 - The Elections Performance Index is a project that, for the first time ever, examines election administration performance across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

  Read More

• Infographic: The Wait to Vote

  Dec 10, 2012 - View the most recent infographic from the Pew Center on the States comparing voter wait time at polls during the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.

  Read More

• Preparing for Election Day in the Country’s Most Populous Jurisdiction

  Oct 24, 2012 - Los Angeles County, California, which currently has more than 4.5 million registered voters, is the most populous election jurisdiction in the nation. Preparing for Election Day in a jurisdiction this size is a logistical challenge to say the least and with that day fast approaching, election officials have a lot to do to get ready

  Read More

• Voter Registration Lookup Tools

  Oct 09, 2012 - Registration lookup tools provide voters essential information, such as whether they are registered to vote and whether their information is accurate, in the place many people look first—online.

  Read More

• Infographic: Voter Turnout in National Elections

  Aug 23, 2012 - It's well-known that more people turn out to vote in presidential election years than in mid-term years, but it's also worth noting that the general trend over the past two decades has been upward for both kinds of elections.

  Read More

• Interactive: U.S. Voter Participation, 1990-2010

  Aug 20, 2012 - The U.S. Voting Participation interactive graphic sheds light on how voters in each state, and the nation overall, participate in every step of the election process.

  Read More

• Voter Registration in Four States

  Jul 25, 2012 - Data from four states—Colorado, Florida, Maryland, and Virginia—show that election offices must deal with a huge spike in voter registration applications every four years.

  Read More

• Inaccurate, Costly, and Inefficient: Evidence That America’s Voter Registration System Needs an Upgrade

  Feb 14, 2012 - This report underscores the need for an effective system for maintaining accurate voter registration information, because current systems are plagued with errors and inefficiencies that waste taxpayer dollars, undermine voter confidence, and fuel partisan disputes over the integrity of our elections.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Democracy from Afar: States Show Progress on Military and Overseas Voting

  Jan 27, 2012 - Significant changes in state laws since the passage of the federal 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act have greatly improved the ability of Americans abroad to vote and have their votes counted. The 2012 election will be the first time changes enacted in 47 states and the District of Columbia affect the process of voting for a president by military and overseas citizens.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Being Online Is Still Not Enough

  Dec 08, 2011 - "Being Online Is Still Not Enough" provides state-by-state reviews and analysis based on detailed criteria of election websites for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It also includes recommendations for improving each site to better inform voters, and provides a list of best practices adopted by many states to maximize their election office’s online presence. This report follows Pew’s initial 2008 study, "Being Online Is Not Enough."  

  Read More

• Voting Information Project: Partnering with Election Officials to Inform American Voters

  Apr 02, 2010 - This brief explains how the Pew Center on the States, through the Voting Information Project, is working with election officials across the nation to provide cutting edge technology tools to make voting information accessible online to all Americans.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• The Real Cost of Voter Registration

  Dec 16, 2009 - This landmark case study, conducted by the Pew Center on the States with the assistance of Oregon state and local election officials, is the first publicly available, detailed compilation of state voter registration costs.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Bringing Elections into the 21st Century: Voter Registration Modernization

  Aug 31, 2009 - America’s current voter registration system is outdated, costly and inaccurate. A recent study estimates that more than two million voters were unable to cast a ballot in the 2008 general election due to registration problems.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• No Time to Vote: Challenges Facing America’s Overseas Military Voters

  Jan 06, 2009 - No Time to Vote: Challenges Facing America’s Overseas Military Voters shows that 25 states and the District of Columbia have to improve their absentee voting process for their military citizens abroad.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Data for Democracy – Improving Elections through Metrics and Measurement

  Dec 03, 2008 - The Pew Center on the States’ Make Voting Work initiative assembled a broad set of stakeholders with the expertise to comment on the importance and challenges of prioritizing, collecting and applying elections data to provide and improve information for the public on election performance and management.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Being Online is Not Enough: State Elections Web Sites

  Oct 16, 2008 - A 50-state analysis released by Make Voting Work, a project of the Pew Center on the States, examined the usability of states' election Web sites and found that voters cannot easily locate information online.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Summary: Military and Overseas Citizen Voting Project

  Sep 15, 2008 - This summary highlights the challenges facing military and overseas citizens voters and offers solutions.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Make Voting Work: The First Pilot Projects (Spring 2008 Trust Magazine briefing)

  Apr 30, 2008 - Make Voting Work approaches its work thoroughly schooled in the Pew Center on the States' strategy of moving issues forward based on nonpartisan, rock-solid data and information.

  Read More

• Overseas Voting (Fall 2007 Trust Magazine briefing)

  Dec 03, 2007 - Pew partners with Overseas Vote Foundation to launch Web-based services aimed at overseas voters.

  Read More

• Overseas Voting – Challenges and Innovation

  Oct 25, 2007 - Military service members and other overseas voters face hurdles to casting ballots.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Make Voting Work: Request for Proposals

  Apr 23, 2007 - The Pew Center on the States, a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the JEHT Foundation issued a request for proposals for $2 million in grants available to help diagnose how well U.S. elections are run and plan pilot projects to be conducted in 2007 and 2008.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• War Games: Issues and Resources in the Battle for the Control of Congress

  Feb 05, 2007 - A complete summary of the CSED 2006 research project, which used over twenty academics and scores of monitors on the ground to gather information about twelve competitive Senate and House races.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• The State of the States 2007

  Jan 08, 2007 - The 2007 edition of Stateline.org's annual survey of trends.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• States United (Winter 2005-2006 Trust Magazine article)

  Feb 01, 2006 - Article on the Pew Center on the States.

  Read More

• Confidence In PA State Government At Lowest Point in Two Years

  Oct 14, 2005 - IssuesPA/Pew poll findings on confidence in Pennsylvania's government.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Shifting Gears: State Party Strategies Post-BCRA

  Sep 27, 2005 - An in-depth analysis of how fundraising has changed post-McCain-Feingold Act.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• The Battle For The Buckeye State

  Oct 19, 2004 - A study of political party finances in Ohio from the Institute on Money in State Politics.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• The Campaign Media Guide

  Jul 15, 2004 - A report by the Campaign Legal Center that provides an overview of the rights and obligations of candidates and broadcasters, and guidelines on how to monitor and affect political discourse during the 2004 election season. 

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Juice Worth the Squeeze (Summer 2004 Trust Magazine article)

  Jul 01, 2004 - USA Today called the Trusts a "winner" when the U.S. Supreme Court backed campaign finance reform. Here's a reformer's point of view.

  Read More

• Life Before BCRA: Soft Money at the State Level in the 2000 and 2002 Election Cycles

  Dec 01, 2003 - This study by The Institute on Money and State Politics shows that Democratic and Republican state political party committees raised $1 billion of soft money over a four-year period covering the 2000 and 2002 election cycles, with Florida leading all states by a wide margin.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)

• Passing the Bucks: Money Games that Political Parties Play

  Sep 30, 2003 - This study documents a pattern of trades and transfers between the national party committees and state party committees in 13 selected states over three election cycles.

  Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)