As we’ve researched the vote counting and certification processes across key states over the last two years, one common theme is how much variety exists in how these processes run. One of the biggest challenges is gaining a comprehensive overview of these processes and understanding how best to compare them.
Especially as we head into an election cycle where attempts to undermine democracy are already underway, this information is vital.
This overview contains high-level details about the counting and certification processes in each state, along with citations and links to use as a jumping-off point for further research.
We hope this tool can provide you — our allies and partners — a starting point, whether you’re using this database as a first resource to direct legal research, advocate for legislative change, or use it to inform content to reach voters.
You can learn more about our 50 State Post-Vote Guide here. To access to the full 50 State Post-Vote Guide database, please complete this Google Form and we’ll follow up with a private link. Due to the sensitive information in this database, we want to make sure this information stays in the hands of allies who want to use it to fuel corrective action and support our democracy.
As always, we’re eager and available to support any partners who want to learn more about this research. Members of our team will be hosting two briefings on the 50 State Post-Vote Guide, the first on February 6 at 11:00 AM EST and a second on February 8 at 01:00 PM EST. Please use these links to register for a briefing. And if you have additional questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to info@informingdemocacy.org.
Thank you,
The Informing Democracy Team
50 State Post-Vote Guide: Analysis
As you might imagine, conducting a review of the law in all 50 states means there’s a lot of information to parse. So much so that we’re still sifting through it ourselves. In addition to this research informing our 2024 research roadmap, we’ll also be diving deeper into this body to analyze the findings in the weeks and months ahead.
Stay tuned over the next few months for items like cross-state calendars and timelines, definitional guides, and more. Our first analysis, available now, looks at commonalities and differences in jurisdictional processes across all 50 states.
Jurisdictional Lay of the Land Analysis
Under the constitution, state governments are largely given responsibility for the administration of our elections. This complex system means election administrators in the states have varying degrees of discretion to administer elections.
Which is why it’s important to know who holds this power — and how they wield that power. With this understanding, it means we can support their efforts when necessary, or hold these officials accountable if they act improperly or in bad faith.
Read our full Jurisdictional Analysis here.
This jurisdictional analysis provides greater transparency into who is in charge of state elections, how they come into power, and how they issue laws, rules, and guidance on elections. By understanding who the key decision makers are, we can work to ensure that only those who are committed to free and fair elections are occupying the positions of power over our elections.