Voting Technology
After the 2000 election and the passage of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, states moved to modernize election administration by retiring antiquated lever and punch-card voting machines and implementing new electronic voting machines. Electronic voting machines have not been the panacea to vote-counting woes that many had hoped they would be. Until recently, there has been surprisingly little empirical study on electronic voting systems in the areas of security, accessibility, usability, and cost. The result is that jurisdictions are making purchasing decisions and are adopting laws and procedures that do little to promote these goals.In 2006, the Brennan Center released two comprehensive, empirical analyses of electronic voting systems in the United States, The Machinery of Democracy: Protecting Elections in an Electronic World and The Machinery of Democracy: Voting System Security, Accessibility, Usability, and Cost. The Brennan Center continued its study of electronic voting security in Post-Election Audits: Restoring Trust in Elections. Since the Brennan Center initiated its study of electronic voting, it has been called upon to provide expert testimony before Congress and to assist election officials in developing procedures that promote secure and reliable voting systems.
NAACP New York State Conference, et al. v. New York State Board of Elections, et al.
A coalition of groups representing low-income and minority voters sued the New York State and New York City Boards of Elections in US District Court to prevent the use of a voting machine configuration that would lead to tens of thousands of lost votes.
A lawsuit filled by the Brennan Center and other voting rights advocates challenging Florida’s requirement that the driver’s license or Social Security number on a registration form be verified before a voter can be registered to vote.
Washington Association of Churches v. Reed
The Brennan Center has resolved the first lawsuit in the country concerning a new procedure to “match” voter information from one source to another.
Poor Design Leads to Lost Votes
In New York's 2010 election, a confusing ballot design and a misleading warning message on voting machines led to as many as 20,000 lost votes in the governor’s contest alone.
Learning from 2010: Improving Our Elections
While a lot went right from the perspective of voting rights and election administration, 2010 provided plenty of examples of how even now, a decade after “hanging chad” became a household term and states all over the country began purchasing new, modern voting machines, we are still struggling bring the way we run our elections into the 21st century. In particular, the 2010 elections showed the continuing and critical need to (1) modernize our country's voter registration system and (2) create an accessible, national database and reporting system to track voting system malfunctions.
Another Voice for Voter Registration Modernization: the D.C. Board of Elections
From the new D.C. Board of Elections report: “The current paper-based, voter-initiated voter registration system in the District and elsewhere in the nation is cumbersome, inefficient and rife with opportunities for error. It is estimated that as many as 10 percent of voter registration records throughout the nation contain an erroneous name, address or birth date.” We respond to their plan….
Illustrations by Risko
Brennan Center Announces “Double Vote” Settlement, Victory for Minor Parties and Voters
A settlement has been announced in the Brennan Center's lawsuit against the State Board of Elections on behalf of three of New York's minor parties. The lawsuit challenged a discriminatory New York State policy for counting political party votes.
WFP & Conservative Party Seek Injunction Against NYS Board of Elections Discriminatory Practice
The Working Families Party and the Conservative Party -- represented by the Brennan Center for Justice and the law firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady – asked U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff to grant a preliminary injunction barring the State Board of Elections from enforcing New York’s discriminatory “double voting” policy in the upcoming November election. Double voting results when the machine determines that a voter has selected the same candidate in the same contest on more than one party line. Under the state’s policy, the vote will go the “first” party on the ballot, almost invariably the Democrats or the Republicans, to the detriment of minor political parties such as Plaintiffs.
New York’s New Voting System Procedure Could Cost Votes for Minor Parties
New York - The Working Families Party and the Conservative Party -- represented by the Brennan Center for Justice and the law firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady -- filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging a discriminatory New York State policy for counting political party votes under a procedure known as “double voting.”
Letter to U.S. House of Representatives Urging Opposition to H.R. 3463
The Brennan Center for Justice submitted a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives urging them to oppose a bill that would terminate the Election Assistance Commission and end the presidential public financing system.
The Voter Friendly Ballot Act of 2011
The Voter Friendly Ballot Act is legislation to simplify New York State's paper ballot design, and is the product of collaboration between New York State Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, the Brennan Center, the Usability Professionals Association, and AIGA, the professional association for design.
The 2010 Election: A Look Back At What Went Right and Wrong
Lawrence Norden submits testimony for the Committee on House Administration's hearing "The 2010 Election: A Look at What Went Right and Wrong." Mr. Norden's testimony focused on the need to modernize our voter registration system and improve our ability to track voting machine failures.
Voting Challenges 2010 - Media Webinar
On October 27, 2010, the Brennan Center presented a webinar on challenges to the 2010 vote for the media. The presentation is updated from an October 13, 2010, briefing at the National Press Club.
Presentations on Voting Rights
Each year, the Brennan Center hosts briefings and delivers presentations on annual trends in voting rights. On this page you can access and download each presentation we have delivered.
Brennan Center presentation on expected challenges to the vote during the 2010 election season.