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MPSA 2011 Conference - Presentations by VTP Faculty, Affiliates and Students

Submitted by gbain on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 10:04
Our Voting Technology faculty, affiliates and students will be presenting papers/posters, and several of our faculty will be sitting on panels at this year's Midwest Political Science Association Conference. Please visit the website for specific locations. Following are dates and times of the sessions for each VTP team member: > Paper: The 17th Amendment and the Partisan Composition of the U.S. Senate, by Charles H. Stewart III, MIT and Wendy J. Schiller, Brown University. March 31, 2011/4:35pm

Research Note on Footnote 24 of the 6th Circuit Hunter Decision

Submitted by gbain on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 10:13
in: 
Featured Content
Working Paper No.: 
101
Date Published: 
02/03/2011
Author(s): 
Charles Stewart III
MIT
The decision issued by the three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in the matter of Hunter v. Hamilton County Board of Elections2 contains a very interesting analysis of problems with Ohio’s law about counting provisional ballots when they are cast in “the right church, wrong pew” (RCWP). On the whole, the appeals court opinion contains a strong argument against the Draconian effects of the Ohio law, which allows — indeed, mandates — disenfranchisement of voters who have followed the instructions of a poll worker.

39th Annual James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award Lecture

Submitted by gbain on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 08:17
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 39th Annual James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award Lecture Speaker: Professor Ronald L. Rivest, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Time: 4:00p–5:30p Location: 10-250, Huntington Hall Ronald L. Rivest, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science who helped develop one of the world's most widely used Internet security systems, is MIT's James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award winner for 2010-2011.

Reflections on the VTP's contributions to science, policymaking and education

Submitted by gbain on Tue, 10/05/2010 - 09:16
in: 
Featured Content
Working Paper No.: 
100
Date Published: 
09/01/2010
Author(s): 
Charles Stewart III
MIT
R. Michael Alvarez
In the immediate wake of the 2000 presidential election, the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project was initiated. The initial and primary concern of the VTP at that moment was to understand the problems that arose in the 2000 American presidential election, in particular with regards to voting technologies, and to develop scientifically-based proposals for reforms and perhaps even to propose new voting technologies.

State of the Nation

Submitted by gbain on Wed, 07/28/2010 - 15:54
Link to Article: 
http://bostonreview.net/BR35.4/ansolabehere.php
Newspaper: 
Boston Review
Date Published: 
07/27/2010
Author(s): 
Eitan Hersh
Department of Government
Harvard University
Article
Voter registration is the backbone of the American electoral system. Registration problems create barriers to voting and make it difficult for administrators to communicate with voters, identify voters at the polls, and audit elections after the fact. Reforms following the 2000 election sought to improve the accuracy and currency of the voter-registration lists. Most important, all states now have statewide voter files. So how good are the files today?

Voting Technology and the Election Experience: The 2009 Gubernatorial Races in New Jersey and Virginia

Submitted by gbain on Mon, 07/19/2010 - 13:53
Working Paper No.: 
99
Date Published: 
07/14/2010
Author(s): 
Thad E. Hall
University of Utah
R. Michael Alvarez
Abstract: In this paper, we examine the attitudes of voters regarding the voting experience in the 2009 gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia. We focus especially on the way in which voting technology experiences that voters have had affect their confidence in the voting process, their attitudes toward fraud and reform, and other aspects of the voting process. We find that voters are sensitive to the voting mode they use—in person voting compared to absentee voting—as well as to whether they get to vote on the technology they prefer (paper versus electronic).

Voter Opinions about Election Reform: Do They Support Making Voting More Convenient?

Submitted by gbain on Thu, 07/15/2010 - 13:35
Working Paper No.: 
98
Date Published: 
07/14/2010
Author(s): 
Charles Stewart III
MIT
Ines Levin
We study public opinions about convenience voting reforms, using a unique state-by-state survey conducted in the 2008 presidential election. Our analysis of the American voting public’s support for potential convenience voting reforms provides a variety of important insights into the potential direction of innovations in the electoral process in the near future. First, we find that the most prominent convenience voting reforms have mixed support. These include attitudes toward automatic voter registration, Election Day voter registration, and moving Election Day to

Voter Registration List Quality Pilot Studies: Report on Detailed Results

Submitted by gbain on Wed, 07/07/2010 - 07:57
Date Published: 
06/08/2010
Author(s): 
Stephen Ansolabehere
Department of Government
Harvard University
Between August 2008 and July 2009, audits were conducted to assess the quality of voter registration lists in two areas of the United States. These audits, conducted by Professors Stephen Ansolabehere and Alan Gerber with research assistance from David Doherty and Eitan Hersh, and funded by the Pew Center on the States, represent an initial e

The American Internet Voter

Submitted by gbain on Wed, 06/23/2010 - 14:06
in: 
Featured Content
Working Paper No.: 
97
Date Published: 
09/01/2009
Author(s): 
Thad E. Hall
University of Utah
Betsy Sinclair
Since the creation of the Internet, there have been a seemingly never-ending number of books and analyses about the role of the Internet in Politics. Many of these books fail to keep in mind that the behavior of elites--well-educated and politically active individuals who often represent the peer group of these authors--is not generally representative of the behavior of the public at large. Pundits and political campaign, but few have systemically examined the role of the Internet in participatory politics for the average voter.

Making Voting Easier: Convenience Voting in the 2008 Presidential Election

Submitted by gbain on Tue, 04/13/2010 - 08:52
Working Paper No.: 
95
Date Published: 
03/15/2010
Author(s): 
R. Michael Alvarez
Caltech
Ines Levin
In this study we analyze the choice of voting mode in the 2008 presidential election. We use a large-sample survey with national coverage that allows us to overcome limitations of previous studies. Our analysis provides a number of insights into some of the important debates about convenience voting. Among other things, we find little support for the hypothesis that convenience voting methods have partisan implications; although we do find voter attributes that lead to the choice of some particular convenience voting mode.

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