Feature
Reimagining Democracy 2026 Summer Reading List
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.
Voting and Elections
Free and fair elections are the foundation of a healthy 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.
Paper
Building Capacity to Use Social Media: How Election Officials Can Leverage Content Creation to Provide Accurate Voter Information
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
Who’s in Charge of Congressional Elections?
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
Voter Experience Summit Recap
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
Improving Election Administrator-News Media Relationships for Effective Election Coverage
This paper explores practical mechanisms for improving the relationship between election officials and news media to increase public confidence in the electoral process.
Paper
The Necessary and Valuable Partnership: Law Enforcement and Election Officials
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
Voting with the Las Vegas Raiders: The Impact of Allegiant Stadium as a Polling Location in 2024
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.
Commentary
The Voter Experience
Despite these unprecedented investments in mobilizing voters, overall trust in electoral health, democratic institutions, voter satisfaction, and electoral engagement have significantly declined. What might we be missing? Bruce Schneier and Hillary Lehr explore ways to enhance the voter experience in elections.
Commentary
Can Election Facility Tours Improve Voter Confidence?
American democracy has faced a crisis of trust in elections, fueled by denialism and movements like “Stop the Steal”. Former Maricopa County recorder and Ash Senior Practice Fellow, Stephen Richer, outlines a potential solution in election administration by offering election facility tours. Finding that witnessing the election process firsthand significantly boosted trust in its integrity, highlighting transparency as a key tool to rebuild voter confidence.
Commentary
Does Ranked Choice Voting Create Barriers for Minority Voters?
Ranked choice voting (RCV) aims to expand voter choice and improve representation, but Nolan McCarty’s research warns it could have unintended negative effects on minority communities’ representation and influence.
Q+A
Will Mobile Voting Defeat Gerrymandering and Increase Participation?
The Ash Center sits down with Bradley Tusk to discuss how mobile voting could not only revitalize civic engagement but also restore trust in government on a broad scale.
Video
Engaging Fans, Empowering Voters: How Professional Sports are Promoting Civic Engagement
The Ash Center hosted a discussion with representatives of the NBA, NFL Votes, the co-founder of Vet the Vote, and the Deputy Secretary of State of Georgia to discuss how these partnerships are succeeding at supporting voter participation and fair and secure elections.
Video
Engaging Fans, Empowering Voters: How Professional Sports are Promoting Civic Engagement
The Ash Center hosted a discussion with representatives of the NBA, NFL Votes, the co-founder of Vet the Vote, and the Deputy Secretary of State of Georgia to discuss how these partnerships are succeeding at supporting voter participation and fair and secure elections.
Feature
In Denver, a Model for Jail-Based Voting
Across the United States, hundreds of thousands of people in jail retain their right to vote while being held in pretrial detention, having not been convicted of a crime.
Commentary
Grassroots efforts to increase voting are gaining momentum in these states, even as other states make voting harder
Tova Wang argues that the past two years have also been groundbreaking in terms of advancing the right to vote.