Rep. Steve Israel (D-New York) introduced legislation on Nov. 6 that would rank a state’s election performance and compare the best and worst practices.

The American Democracy Index Act required the Election Assistance Commission create a contract with an outside group to collect voter data and publish the information for the federal election cycle of 2012.

“For too many Americans, our election system is marred by long lines, lost ballots and controversial recounts. Our elections should be conducted in a way that makes Americans want to vote. It should be easy, expedient and accurate. The American Democracy Index will tell us where we’re succeeding and where we’re failing so that we can make improvements based on what works,” said Rep. Israel.

Information would be displayed state-by-state, ranking them based on criteria set by an independent advisory board of election administration experts. A program would also be put in place that would rank localities within five state to measure the effectiveness of their election administration.

The bill is based on Yale Law School Professor Heather Gerken’s proposal from her book, The Democracy Index: Why Our Election System is Failing and How to Fix it. She proposes by ranking election performances of each state, governments would take steps to make voting easier.