Free and fair elections are the foundation of a healthy democracy.
Elections and Election Administration Paper Series, Reimagining Democracy
The Ash Center brings together research, events, and expert analysis on voting, election administration, civic participation, and the institutions that help ensure elections are accessible, secure, and trusted.
Commentary
Election night 2026 produced a remarkable roll call of historic firsts. From the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state to the first Muslim elected to the Senate, voters broke barriers across state and party lines.
Commentary
This overview maps the technology policy themes from the 2026 US midterm elections, drawing on local ballot measures and proposals from newly elected officials.
Q+A
Ahead of Veterans Day, the Ash Center spoke with the leadership team at Vet the Vote about how their nonpartisan coalition empowers veterans and military families to continue serving their country as trusted poll workers.
Commentary
Allen Lab Policy Fellow Hillary Lehr provides a late-October 2026 snapshot of the multiple ways that AI and the midterms are intersecting, including campaign use cases, policy issues, and voters’ use of LLMs.
Feature
Amid rising threats, harassment, and political polarization, panelists at a recent Ash Center webinar discussed how law enforcement and election officials can collaborate to protect voters and election workers while safeguarding public trust.
Paper
Members of the Ash Center’s Executive Session on Elections and Election Administration present a comprehensive strategy to recruit, support, and retain election administrators by reducing barriers to entry, strengthening professional networks, improving workplace support, and utilizing workforce data address burnout and prevent attrition.
Additional Resource
The Shorenstein Center’s 2026 Voting Information Trends project—developed in collaboration with the National Internet Observatory at Northeastern University, the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation’s Program on Democracy and the Informed Public, and The Civic Health and Institutions Project—provides new insights into the voter information landscape in the United States ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Among the resources, an interactive dashboard maps where Americans are finding voting information and learning about key aspects of the voting process—from sourcing polling locations to voter registration. Also included are a series of trends reports gauging perceptions of voting in the lead up to the 2026 midterm elections.
Feature
On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, now an Ash Senior Fellow and election administration expert, testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight. The hearing examined allegations that approximately 6,600 noncitizens were improperly registered to vote in New Jersey between June 2023 and June 2024.
Feature
Tova Wang, director of research projects in democratic practice at the Ash Center, shares her top picks for summer reads focused on making democracy more resilient, responsive, and inclusive.
Paper
As traditional news declines, content creators play a growing role as information sources. This paper proposes frameworks for effective collaboration between creators and election officials and offers recommendations for officials to develop their own social media content.
Additional Resource
This resource provides accessible, reliable information on constitutional history and the roles and responsibilities involved in administering congressional elections in the United States, with the goal of advancing civic understanding among government officials, media, civic organizations, and the American public.
Commentary
Allen Lab Fellow Hillary Lehr convened a Voter Experience Summit at Harvard’s Ash Center in March, bringing together 25 cross-sector experts to rigorously map the voter journey. This essay explores how that collaborative process could lay the groundwork for new interventions to understand and improve the experience of voting for all.
Paper
This paper explores practical mechanisms for improving the relationship between election officials and news media to increase public confidence in the electoral process.
Paper
This report by Christine Cole, Kim Wyman, and Tina Barton examines the complicated historical relationship between voting and law enforcement in the United States, highlighting how policing experiences can influence public attitudes towards the presence of law enforcement at voting locations.
Policy Brief
Sports facilities are uniquely positioned to provide an enjoyable voting experience and strengthen civic engagement. A new report by Tova Wang, Director of Research Projects in Democratic Practice, explores the impact of stadium voting in 2024 at Allegiant Stadium, drawing widespread, bipartisan support from voters and election officials and strengthening the relationship between the Las Vegas Raiders and the surrounding community.