Report examines voting processes throughout the Midwest

Election Law at Moritz has released From Registration to Recounts Revisited: Developments in the Election Ecosystems of Five Midwestern States, a review of the 2008 elections in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, and adjustments in those states’ election processes. The report is a “sequel” of sorts to a 2007 report from Election Law at Moritz, which focused on changing election processes for the 2006 midterm election in those same five states in the wake of the Help America Vote Act.

This study focuses on four aspects of election administration: institutional arrangements, automatic voter registration, prevalence of convenience voting, and post election processes.

The report found that all five states covered are moving towards automatic voter registration in some ways (though not before the 2012 election); Ohio and Illinois saw great increases in “convenience” voting (being mail-in or absentee); and the report took a very close look at Minnesota’s recount procedures after their very close Senate race in 2008. The report also makes some recommendations based on their findings, including the need for a fair and professionally conducted post-election process.

Election Law at Moritz: From Registration to Recounts Revisited

View or download the report here