The Pew Charitable Trusts - State and Consumer Initiatives about

Online Voter Lookup Tools

How do voters find the information they need on and before Election Day? Many voters turn to online resources, such as state election websites, to find polling locations, the status of absentee ballots, and other key information before casting their votes.

Election Data Dispatches

Election Data Dispatches provides data, research and analysis about election administration in the U.S.

Democrats, Voting Rights Activists Strike Back on Elections Laws

In 2012 Democrats were focused on fighting against voter ID laws and other measures that restricted voting. Now they are turning the tables.

States Push Bills to Ease Voting

Nearly half the states are considering measures to ease voting access, according to a new report.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Retains Conservative Tilt

The Wisconsin high court’s perceived conservative tilt will remain after a justice was re-elected in Tuesday’s vote.

Balance of Power, Future of Key Issues at Stake in Wisconsin Court Race

Two years after one of the most contentious and bruising Supreme Court elections any state has ever seen, Wisconsin voters will return to the polls Tuesday to cast their votes in another judicial election.

Supreme Court Probes Arizona Voter Registration Law

The Supreme Court justices dissected Arizona’s challenge to a federal voter registration law during arguments Monday, even as they seemed to avoid the broader issues of states’ rights versus federal authority underlying the case.

Voter Registration in Supreme Court Spotlight

It’s gotten less attention than the challenge to the Voting Rights Act, but an Arizona challenge to the National Voter Registration Act could upset elections administration around the country.

New Hampshire Voter ID Update

We noted late last year that New Hampshire was, for the first time, going to send confirmation letters to voters who arrived at the polls without the ID required by the state’s new law and had to sign affidavits before voting.

New Hampshire Voter ID

In New Hampshire’s September primary election, approximately 7 percent of voters in Nashua did not show or have photo identification as required by a new state law.

Washington’s State-of-the-Art Voting Information System

With many close races yet to be determined and thousands of ballots still to count, voters, members of the media, policymakers, and others have been scouring state and local election websites trying to get the most up-to-date results

Voting Information Tools

As noted in previous dispatches, more and more voters are using online tools to find important voting information including their polling place.

Elections 2012 Infographics

This collection of infographics covers the issues of the 2012 elections and the potential impact on states. The issues featured include the economy, health care, taxes, clean energy, voter ID, economic mobility and employment.

Finding Voting Information

More and more people are turning to the Internet and social media to get election-related information.

Debate Over Voter ID in Minnesota Extends to Cost

The debate over requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls usually revolves around arguments about whether such laws prevent fraud or impede legitimate access to the polls.

Voter Registration Lookup Tools

Registration lookup tools provide voters essential information, such as whether they are registered to vote and whether their information is accurate, in the place many people look first—online.

Voter Registration Lookup Tools

More and more Americans look to the Internet to find a variety of information, and going online has increasingly become a part of peoples’ daily lives. Registration lookup tools provide voters essential information, such as whether they are registered to vote and whether their information is accurate, in the place many people look first—online.

Voter ID Rolls Out in New Hampshire

This past September, New Hampshire’s new voter identification law debuted during the state’s primary. The law requires voters to show a photo ID at the polls and is being rolled out in stages.

Amid Lawsuits and Controversy, States Prepare for Voter ID

Identifying and verifying hordes of extra voters will be a daunting task for many states ahead of Election Day.

Pennsylvania Judge Refuses to Halt Voter ID Law

A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday refused to block the state’s controversial voter ID law, smoothing the way for its use during the November election.

Pennsylvania Voter ID

The Pennsylvania Departments of State and Transportation compared databases and found that approximately 9 percent of the state’s registered voters do not a photo ID, such as a drivers’ license, from the state Transportation Department that can be used at the polling place to meet the state’s recently enacted voter ID requirement.

Voter Identification in Pennsylvania

While the recently enacted law requiring photo identification at the polls in Pennsylvania continues to generate controversy, a June Quinnipiac University poll found 66 percent of the state's voters approve of the new rule and 32 percent oppose it.

Voter ID in Michigan

As noted in a recent dispatch, measuring the impact of state photo ID laws presents certain challenges. There have been a few pieces of data from several states examining how many voters show up to cast a ballot without the proper identification. Recently, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) added to this picture with new data from Michigan.

Voters Without ID in Wisconsin

The battle over voter ID continues, and in Wisconsin, it is being fought in the courtroom. Two judges recently blocked the state’s law requiring photo ID at the polls from taking effect.

Pew, Google Launch New Tool For North Carolina Military and Overseas Voters

North Carolina military and overseas voters have a new online tool to help them participate in the May 8 primary election, thanks to the Pew Center on the States and Google, through the Voting Information Project.

Technology for a 21st-Century Democracy

State governments can improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness when they work together to use the latest technology and apply proven solutions. A good example is the increasing collaboration among states to bring America's election system into the 21st century.

Voter ID in Kansas and Tennessee

Voters in Tennessee and Kansas recently cast their first ballots under new state laws requiring that they present photo IDs at the polls.

Being Online Is Still Not Enough: Military and Overseas Voters

The California Voter Foundation recently presented more detailed information, focusing on how state websites serve military and overseas voters.

New Report Evaluates State Election Websites

A new report from the Pew Center on the States finds that many states have improved their election sites since 2008, but there are still missed opportunities to better help and inform voters online. Being Online Is Still Not Enough assessed

Being Online Is Still Not Enough

This 2011 report provided state-by-state reviews and analysis based on detailed criteria of election websites for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Notable Counties—Maricopa County, Arizona

Our latest "Notable Counties" dispatch comes from Arizona. As more states start requiring photo ID at the polls, how these measures will affect elections is unclear.

Interactive: A state-by-state look at voter ID laws for 2012 elections

This has been a busy year for voter identification laws. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, dozens of states considered either passing new voter ID rules or tightening existing provisions to require not just an ID but a photo ID.

Matt Morse: Voting Information

In today’s information-driven, highly mobile society, people expect the information they need to be available immediately and through multiple online platforms. Pew’s Election Initiatives has spent three years developing the Voting Information Project, which leverages technology to increase voter access to critical election information and improve the efficiency of state election administration. The project works with election offices, Google, Microsoft, AT&T, Facebook, civic groups, and numerous outlets around the country to deliver important answers to voters’ most commonly asked questions.

Introducing the Voting Information Project

The Voting Information Project is an innovative and proven service that uses the latest technology to provide voters with the information they need to cast a ballot.

Angering Their Own Party, Rhode Island Democrats Approve Voter ID

One of the biggest partisan debates in politics across the country - over the need for voters to show photo identification at the polls - has been turned upside down by the nation's smallest state.

Rhode Island Embraces Voter ID

TODAY'S TAKE: Over fierce objections from Democrats, new Republican majorities in many states have passed bills requiring voters to show identification at the polls. In Rhode Island, however, a Democratic legislature pushed the measure through.

In an Era of One-Party Rule, Republicans Pass a Sweeping State Agenda

Republicans held enormous political leverage in state legislatures this year. They used it to shrink spending, take on labor unions and push long-stalled social legislation in one of the most eventful legislative years in memory.Part one of a weeklong series.

Republicans Score More Victories on Voter ID

TODAY'S TAKE: South Carolina and Texas are the latest states to approve GOP-backed measures requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. Similar bills are moving forward over Democrats' objections in Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Newly Empowered GOP Pushes Voter ID

A proposal that has long divided Democrats and Republicans - requiring voters to show photo identification when they go to the polls - is gaining momentum after GOP electoral gains.

Voting Information Project

The Voting Information Project (VIP) is an innovative and proven service that provides voters with the information they need to cast a ballot—when they need it and where they are most likely to look for it.

The Cost of Delivering Voter Information

This March 2011study examined the costs of disseminating voter information in California’s 58 counties and identified opportunities to reduce spending without cutting essential services.

Voting Information Project

This March 2010 report explains how the Pew Center on the States, through the Voting Information Project, is working with election officials across the nation to provide cutting edge technology tools to make voting information accessible online to all Americans.

Obama, Congress to Revisit Real ID

Congress and the Obama administration are considering ceding key ground in a long-running battle between the federal government and the states over Real ID. The 4-year-old federal program requires all states to start issuing more secure driver's licenses by the end of the year - or risk subjecting their residents to major delays when boarding airplanes or entering federal buildings.

2008 Survey of the Performance of American Elections

This March 2009 study was based on the responses to an Internet survey of 200 registered voters in each of the 50 states, for a total of 10,000 observations overall. Individuals were asked about their experience voting—either in-person on Election Day, in-person early, or absentee voting. Non-voters were also surveyed.

Data For Democracy

This 2008 report discussed how good data is the basis of good policymaking. In the elections field, a lack of data has often left policy makers and election officials without the tools necessary to assess successes and failures in the field. When data is available, it has usually been limited. With numerous changes to elections since 2002 – and a growing focus on the administration rather than only the outcome of elections – data collection efforts have been steadily increasing.

Election Day Mostly Smooth

Six years after being ordered to overhaul their voting systems, states showed they were largely prepared for 2008's historic election and near-record voter turnout.

Being Online Is Not Enough

This 2008 report examined election websites' usability and found that when voters cannot easily locate information online, limited resources are diverted to operate costly help lines.

With Justices' OK, Voter ID Moves Ahead

A decision Monday (April 28) by the U.S. Supreme Court to let Indiana demand photo identification from voters paves the way for other states to do the same during November's presidential election, experts say.

Justices Question Timing of Voter ID Challenge

(Updated 6:30 p.m. EST) Several U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday (Jan. 9) questioned whether it's too early to consider striking down an Indiana law requiring voters to show photo identification, especially because there is limited evidence showing whether the rules are discouraging voters.

Partisan Colors Fly in Voter ID Case

In a case that could provide states guidance before November's presidential elections, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today to determine whether Indiana and other states can require voters to present photo identification before casting their ballots.