Publications
Voting Rights & Elections
Restoring the Right to Vote
Despite a history of expanding the franchise, there remains one significant blanket barrier to the franchise. 5.3 million American citizens are not allowed to vote because of a felony conviction. As many as 4 million of these people live in our communities, but are still denied the right to vote because of a prior conviction.
Authored by: Erika Wood
– 02/26/08
Factsheet on Restoring Voting Rights
A two-page overview of the facts and figures involved in restoring the right to vote to people with criminal conviction.
– 01/01/08
The Truth About Voter Fraud
Voter fraud makes a popular scapegoat. In the aftermath of a close election, losing candidates are often quick to blame voter fraud for the results. Legislators cite voter fraud as justification for various new restrictions on the exercise of the franchise. And pundits trot out the same few anecdotes time and again as proof that a wave of fraud is imminent. Allegations of widespread voter fraud, however, often prove greatly exaggerated.
Authored by: Justin Levitt
– 11/09/07
Post-Election Audits: Restoring Trust in Elections
With the intention of assisting legislators, election officials and the public to make sense of recent literature on post-election audits and convert it into realistic audit practices, the Brennan Center and the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at Boalt Hall School of Law (University of California Berkeley) convened a blue ribbon panel (the “Audit Panel”) of statisticians, voting experts, computer scientists and several of the nation’s leading election officials. Following a review of the literature and extensive consultation with the Audit Panel, the Brennan Center and the Samuelson Clinic make several practical recommendations for improving post-election audits, regardless of the audit method that a jurisdiction ultimately decides to adopt.
– 08/01/07
Post-Election Audits: Restoring Trust in Elections (Executive Summary)
Executive summary of practical recommendations put forth by the Brennan Center and Samuelson Clinic for improving post-election audits, regardless of the audit method that a jurisdiction ultimately decides to adopt.
– 08/01/07
The Modern-Day Poll Tax
Despite expanded suffrage, a large segment of the American public is still barred from the political process because of felony convictions, resulting in the disenfranchisement of 5.3 million American citizens.
Authored by: Erika L. Wood and Neema Trivedi
– 06/06/07
An Agenda for Election Reform
This memorandum sets out a comprehensive election reform agenda for the 110th Congress and explains the reasons for each policy reform.
Authored by: Wendy R. Weiser and Jonah Goldman
– 03/07/07
The Machinery of Democracy: Protecting Elections in an Electronic World
Authored by: Lawrence D. Norden and Eric Lazarus
– 02/01/07
Citizens Without Proof
A recent national survey sponsored by the Brennan Center reveals that millions of American citizens do not have readily available documentary proof of citizenship.
– 11/28/06