White Papers

President Donald Trump’s March 25th election integrity executive order creates unfunded mandates for election officials and throws up unnecessary barriers for eligible U.S. citizens to participate in elections – barriers which would disproportionately harm members of the military and their families, as well as married women.

Governments have long been attentive to regulatory burdens placed on private businesses, and are now increasingly considering administrative burdens experienced by members of the public. Such burdens can significantly worsen people’s experience of government, and limit access to valued resources, especially for those who most need government help. What would it look like if governments tried to build a policy framework that took burdens seriously? This white paper by Donald Moynihan and Morten Hybschmann dives into just that.

This white paper poses the questions: Do communities have better health outcomes in states with less restrictive voting policies? And is the opposite also true – do communities have worse health outcomes in states with more restrictive voting policies? Healthy Democracy Healthy People's Gnora Mahs explores actionable ways that health professionals can be champions for an inclusive and representative democracy.

With reduction in federal funding for elections, it falls to states to properly fund elections. However, this white paper finds the states continue to fail to provide increased ongoing funding to support local election administration.

Though it's been 100 years since Native Americans were extended the right to vote, they still continue to face barriers to the ballot box rooted in their historical mistreatment. This paper discusses those obstacles and then offers Tribal automatic voter registration as one solution to aid in registration rates amongst Native communities.

Building off of previous data from Colorado, new data out of Delaware confirms that upgrading to secure automatic voter registration (SAVR) can significantly boost eligible voter registration rates.

Voters and legislators considering RCV should carefully assess the changed or unpredictable electoral outcomes RCV will bring in their state, including for candidates of color, and whether these outcomes further or undermine their goals.

This report investigates the roles different voting structures around the world play in increasing turnout among eligible voters. The purpose is to surface several alternatives the United States could explore as a way of confronting its voting challenges and increasing turnout.