RAPID: Collaborative Research: The Integrity of Mail Voting

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Given the increase use of vote by mail (VBM) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the investigators focus on mail-in voters' experience with how they seek, obtain, complete, return and have their mail ballots counted. They examine citizens' perceptions about the integrity of elections using VBM by assessing concerns about variation in the institutional structures of VBM, the secrecy of VBM the process, and the coercion that VBM voters may face from their peer group. The investigators use a state-centric survey design that includes an oversample in 10 states that have a mixture of VBM systems. The oversample is important and gives additional statistical power and leverage about state election administration and laws. The sample consist of only registered voters who report voting by mail in the 2020 election. Surveys are solicited online using Qualtrics software. E-mail addresses for registered voters by state will be purchased from L2. The investigators completed 200 online surveys with mail voters in 40 states, and 1,000 with mail voters in 10 states, along with 100 in-person voters in each these states, for a total sample of 23,000. This research provides a baseline for concerns about voter integrity related to mail balloting. Furthermore, it establishes whether alternative mail voting systems differ in terms of when, where, and with whom mail ballots are completed and returned. This project should inform scholars and policy makers in several areas of VBM policy administration. Findings from the study are also valuable in increasing public confidence in VBM election procedures. The research involves undergraduate researchers at all three campuses of the collaborative study.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.