Will Cohen
Pronouns: He/him
Research Mentor(s): Phoebe Henninger
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Political Science / LSA
Program: UROP
Session: Session 5 (2:40pm – 3:30pm)
Authors: Phoebe Henninger, Will Cohen
Abstract
Given that independent, non-partisan officials currently don’t administer the majority of U.S. elections at the state level, partisan officials are usually elected, or appointed to administration posts, making the U.S. somewhat of an anomaly. In the face of numerous recent issues plaguing voter trust in elections, it’s worthwhile to question if this system has yielded positive results, or needs major reforms. The lack of current research into the roles political parties play in election administration further necessitates a nationwide study of state by state and local election board composition. We provided descriptive analyses of election board makeup at the local and state levels, noting administrators party affiliations and years of service. Past and present surveys were utilized to assess trust levels in elections. We describe how election administration structure is widely varied across states and localities, and use survey data to understand how public trust in elections varies across these different administrative systems.
