Challenges of Electoral Integrity in America

Where: Palais des Congress de Montréal, Québec, Canada

Organizers: Pippa Norris, Harvard University/Madison MacGregor, Electoral Integrity Project coordinator

Co-sponsors: IFES, the Carter Center, APSA’s Elections, Public Opinion and Voting Behavior and APSA’s Representation and Elections Organized Sections.

Formats: In-person panels, roundtables, and breakout groups

Contact: electoralintegrity@gmail.com

Website: https://www.electoralintegrityproject.com/2022-apsa-workshop

Register: https://tinyurl.com/5228amy8

The Electoral Integrity Project has organized a one-day workshop in Montréal from 8.30am to 6pm on Wednesday 14th September 2022.

This event will be held immediately prior to the 118th American Political Science Association’s Annual Meeting & Exhibition from September 15-18, 2022, in Montréal, Québec, Canada. This will be the seventh in the series of pre-APSA workshops organized by EIP since 2013.

The theme focuses on Challenges of Electoral Integrity in America.

THEME:
The roots of the contemporary crisis of confidence in the integrity of American elections can be traced back to heated controversies in Florida during the 2000 Bush v. Gore presidential election. This generated a growing research literature documenting issues of electoral fraud in America (Minnite 2010), legal challenges in voting wars (Hasen 2012), problems of voter suppression (Wang 2012), and why electoral integrity matters for democratic legitimacy, both in America and worldwide (Norris 2014).

Since then, however, scholarship has expanded dramatically as partisan disputes about the integrity of U.S. elections have become increasingly contentious, litigious, and polarized. A tidal wave of amendments to state electoral laws, documented by the Brennan Center and the NCSL, have sparked intense concern about their consequences for public opinion, voting behavior, and US democracy. The insurrection attacking the US Capital on Jan 6th highlighted the risks of fraying legitimacy sparking deadly violence, and the portents for the mid-term 2022 U.S. elections, their aftermath, and legacy for the 2024 presidential contest, appear deeply troubling.

The pre-APSA EIP workshop seeks to advance research, promote bi-partisan dialogue, and identify best practices in mitigating risks to electoral integrity in America.

This concept is broadly defined using the electoral cycle approach to cover all stages in the process, from electoral laws and electoral management through redistricting, voter, party and candidate registration, the role of money and misinformation during the primary and general election campaign, to the final stages of balloting, the vote count, post-election auditing, and the adjudication of electoral disputes and appeals.

To contribute towards public debate in the run up to the mid-term US elections, policy-relevant papers would be especially welcome which document and evaluate the impact of changes to US state electoral laws throughout all stages of the electoral cycle.

Multiple methods are welcome including studies using narrative case-studies, experimental designs, mass and expert panel surveys, systematic aggregate data comparing US states, and/or cross-national evidence drawing upon global experiences.

Papers are especially welcome which analyze the impact of legal and administrative changes concerning the impartiality of electoral officials, the protection of voting rights, the competitiveness of Congressional districts, the accuracy of electoral information, the security of the ballot, the integrity of the vote count, fair processes of dispute adjudication, and public confidence in the overall quality of American democracy.