Resources for policymakers, researchers, journalists, and others looking for best practices, studies on impact, and reports from experts.

General Policy

• Redistricting Systems: A 50-State Overview | National Conference of State Legislatures
• Gerrymandering Threat Index | RepresentUs (May 2021)
• Designing Independent Redistricting Commissions | Campaign Legal Center (July 2018)
• Democracy Reform: State Approaches to Voting and Redistricting | Millennial Action Project (October 2020)
• Gerrymandering & Fair Representation | Brennan Center (2020)
• A Citizen’s Guide to Redistricting | Brennan Center ‍

‍

Academic Literature 

• The Impact of Partisan Gerrymandering on Political Parties (Nicholas O. Stephanopoulos and Christopher Warshaw | Legislative Studies Quarterly) 
• Reevaluating the Effects of Redistricting on Electoral Competition (Jamie L. Carson, Michael H. Crespin & Ryan D. Williamson | State Politics & Policy Quarterly) 
• Party Lines: Competition, Partisanship, and Congressional Redistricting (Thomas E. Mann & Bruce E. Cain | Brookings Institute Press) 
  

‍

Columns & Commentary 

• The Peril and Promise of Redistricting Reform in H.R. 1 | Harvard Law Review Blog (February 2021)
• “Create More Competitive Districts to Limit Extremism,” Richard H. Pildes | RealClear Politics (April 2021)
• Will We Ever Slay the Evil Gerrymander?” Alan Ehrenhalt | Governing (November 2020)
• “What is gerrymandering and why is it problematic?”  Christopher Ingraham | Washington Post (June 2019)
• “The Best Way to Fix Gerrymandering is to Make it Useless,” Lee Drutman | The New York Times (June 2018)
• The Peril and Promise of Redistricting Reform in H.R. 1 | Harvard Law Review Blog (February 2021)
  

‍

Partner Organizations 

• Campaign Legal Center
• RepresentUS
• The People
• Princeton Gerrymandering Project

‍

General Policy 

• Primaries by State | Open Primaries 
• State Primary Election Types | National Conference of State Legislatures
  

‍

Reports from Experts 

• Primaries: More than One Way to Find a Party Nominee | National Conference of State Legislatures (January 2021)
• Monopoly Politics 2020: The Root of Dysfunction in the U.S. House of Representatives | FairVote (December 2020)
• The Next Great Migration: The Rise of Independent Voters | Open Primaries (November 2020)
• The Primaries Project: 2018 Midterms | Brookings (October 2018) 
• America Goes to the Polls 2018 | Nonprofit VOTE (2018)
• Political Polarization and Voters in the 2018 Congressional Primaries | Brookings Institute (October 2018)
• 2018 Primary Election Turnout & Reforms | Bipartisan Policy Center (November 2018) 
• State of Reform | Unite America (June 2020)
• The Primary Problem | Unite America Institute (March 2021)
  

‍

Academic Literature 

• A Promise Fulfilled? Open Primaries and Representation (Karen M. Kaufmann, James G. Gimpel and Adam H. Hoffman | The Journal of Politics) 
• Primary Election Systems and Representation (Elizabeth Gerber and Rebecca Morton | Journal of Law Economics, & Organization) 
• Reducing Legislative Polarization: Top-Two and Open Primaries Are Associated with More Moderate Legislators (Christian Grose | Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy)
• Ideological Moderates Won’t Run: How Party Fit Matters for Partisan Polarization in Congress (Danielle Thomsen | The Journal of Politics)
• Candidates' policy strategies in primary elections: does strategic voting by the primary electorate matter? (James Adams and Samuel Merrill III | Public Choice)
  

‍

Columns & Commentary 

• “Alaska decides to switch to open primaries and ranked elections,” The Fulcrum (November 2020)
• “North to the Future: Alaska leads the way, passing sweeping election reform via ballot initiative,” Unite America (November 2020)
• “Fixing U.S. Politics,” Katherine M. Gehl and Michael E. Porter | Harvard Business Review (July/August 2020)
• “Opinion: American politics rewards entrenched interests and career politicians. Innovations in voting could help change that,” Katherine M. Gehl and Michael E. Porter | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (June 2020)
• “Party Primaries Must Go,” Nick Troiano | The Atlantic (March 2021)
  

‍

Partner Organizations 

• Open Primaries 
• RepresentUS
• Institute for Political Innovation

Ranked Choice Voting Policy & Administration 

• Recounts of Ranked-Choice Voting Elections | Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center (September 2022)

• Post-Election Audits and Ranked-Choice Voting | Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center (September 2022)

• Ranked-Choice Voting Ballot Usage Analysis and Design Recommendations | Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center (September 2022)

• Best Practices for Releasing RCV Election Results | Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center (September 2022)

• Best practices for ranked choice voting ballots and other materials | Center for Civic Design (February 2017) 

• What is Ranked Choice Voting | Where RCV is Used |  Benefits of RCV | FairVote (April 2019) ‍

• Single-winner vs. Multi-winner Ranked Choice Voting | Represent Women 
  

‍

Reports from Experts 

• In Ranked Choice Elections, Women WIN | RepresentWOMEN (July 2020) 
• Ranked Choice Voting in 2020 Presidential Primary Elections | FairVote (July 2020)
• Ranked Choice Voting: The Solution to the Presidential Primary Predicament | Unite America Institute (June 2020)
• Ranked Choice Voting Elections Benefit Candidates and Voters of Color | FairVote (May 2021)
• The Conservative Case for Ranked Choice Voting | Independence Institute (May 2021) 
  

‍

Academic Literature 

• The alternative vote: Do changes in single-member voting systems affect descriptive representation of women and minorities (Sarah John, Haley Smith, Elizabeth Zack | Electoral Studies)
• Ranked Choice Voting and Racial Minority Voting Rights: An Analysis of Representation of People of Color in the Bay Area (4 Pager | FairVote) 
• “Campaign civility under preferential and plurality voting,” (Donovan, Todd et al. | Electoral Studies Volume 42)
• Voter Participation with Ranked Choice Voting in the United States (David C. Kimball & Joseph Anthony | University of Missouri‐St. Louis)
  

‍

Columns & Commentary 

• “A Vote for Equity at the Polls,” Danielle Adam | Boston Globe (September 2020)
• “How Does Ranked-Choice Voting Work in New York?” Sarah Almukhtar, Jazmine Hughes, Eden Weingart | The New York Times (April 2021)
• “In New York City, Ranked Choice Voting Puts the People in Charge,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Jumaane D. Williams | The Nation (May 2021)
• “Andrew Yang, Bill Weld: Why ranked choice voting will improve America's elections,” Andrew Yang and Bill Weld | USA Today (October 2020)
• “Utah needs ranked choice voting in this year’s crowded gubernatorial race” Stan Lockhart | Dessert News (June 2020) 
• “We’re Doing Elections Wrong,” Hasan Minhaj | The Patriot Act, Netflix (June 2020) 
• “Why Ranked Choice Voting is Having a Moment,” Jacey Fortin | New York TImes (February 2020)  
• “What Is Ranked-Choice Voting? An Exercise in Representative Democracy, Reformists Say,” Erin Corbett | Fortune (May 2019)
• “New York City Voters Just Adopted Ranked Choice Voting in Elections. Here’s How it Works,” Anna Purna Kambhampaty | Time (November 2019) 
• “One Reform to Save America,” David Brooks | New York Times (May 2018)
  

‍

Partner Organizations

• FairVote 
• Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center 
• Represent Women 
• Center for Civic Design 
• RepresentUS
• Institute for Political Innovation

Election Policy & Administration

• Vote at Home Briefing Flyer | National Vote at Home Institute (August 2019)
• Voting Outside the Polling Place: Absentee, All-Mail, and Other Voting at Home Options | National Conference of State Legislatures (June 2020)
• Vote at Home Status by State | National Vote at Home Institute (May 2020)
• Vote at Home Policy Actions: Covid-19 Response | National Vote at Home Institute (May 2020)

• Voting By Mail/ Absentee Voting & Coronavirus Resources | U.S. Election Assistance Commission
• Proven Bipartisan Solutions for Safe Voting | Millennial Action Project (July 2020)
  

‍

Turnout

• Voting by Mail in the U.S. (1992-2018) | MIT Data & Science Lab (May 2020)
• The Neutral Partisan Effects of Vote-by-Mail: Evidence from County-Level Roll Outs | Democracy & Polarization Lab, Stanford University (April 2020)
• All-Mail Voting in Colorado Increases Turnout and Reduces Turnout Inequality | Bonica, Adam et al. (April 2020)
• Colorado 2014: Comparisons of Predicted and Actual Turnout | Pantheon Analytics
• Demographics on Voting by Mail | Charles Stewart III, MIT (March 2020)
• How Electoral Institutions Affect Political Accountability: Evidence from All Mail Elections | James Szewczyk, Emory University (June 2018)
• Vote-by-Mail Policy and the 2020 Presidential Election | Erin McGhee, Public Policy Institute of California and Mindy Romero, USC Price School of Public Policy (April 2021)
  

‍

Security

• Elections Security | U.S. Election Assistance Commission
• Myth-busting the top 10 objections to VAH systems | National Vote at Home Institute (2019)
• The False Narrative of Vote By Mail Fraud | Brennan Center for Justice (April 2020)
  

‍

Reports from Experts

• How We Voted in 2020: A Topical Look at the Survey of the Performance of American Elections | MIT Election Data & Science Lab (April 2021)
• America Goes to the Polls 2020: Policy and Voter Turnout in the 2020 Election | Nonprofit Vote & U.S. Elections Project (April 2021) 
• The Case Against Restricting Voting Access | R Street (February 2021)
• The Conservative Case for Expanded Access to Absentee Ballots | R Street (June 2020)
• Preparing Your State for an Election Under Pandemic Conditions | Brennan Center for Justice (June 2020)  

• Estimated Costs of Covid-19 Election Resiliency Measures | Brennan Center for Justice (March 2020)

• Accessing the Vote During a Pandemic | Bipartisan Policy Center (May 2020)
• Universally Accessible and Racially Equitable Vote by Mail | Demos (June 2020)
• Colorado Voting Reforms: Early Results | The Pew Charitable Trusts (March 2016)
• Protecting Public Health in the 2020 Elections | Voting Rights Lab, UCLA, and the Union for Concerned Scientists (July 2020)
  

‍

Noteworthy Columns & Commentary

• Epstein, Reid J. and Stephanie Saul. “Does Vote-by-Mail Favor Democrats? No. It’s a False Argument by Trump,” The New York Times (April 2020)
• Hill, Charlotte et al. “We Should Never Have to Vote in Person Again,” The New York Times (May 2020)
• Persily, Nathaniel and Charles Stewart, III. “Ten Recommendations to Ensure a Healthy and Trustworthy 2020 Election,” (March 2020)
• Drutman, Lee. “There Is No Evidence That Voting By Mail Gives One Party An Advantage,” FiveThirtyEight (May 2020)
• Steele, Michael and Eli Lehrer. “Conservatives need to get behind vote-by-mail options in 2020 election,” The Washington Times (March 2020)
• McReynolds, Amber and Charles Stewart III. “Let’s put the vote-by mail ‘fraud’ myth to rest,” The Hill (April 2020)
• Wyman, Kim. “Republican leader: My state shows why voting by mail is secure and trustworthy,” USA Today (May 2020)

‍

Partner Organizations

• National Vote at Home Institute
• Voting Rights Lab
• Center for Secure and Modern Elections
• Center for Civic Design
• Center for Tech and Civic Life

Reports from Experts 

• Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America | Katherine Gehl & Michael Porter, Harvard Business Review (September 2017) 
• Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century | American Academy of Arts & Sciences (June 2020) 
• Hidden Tribes: A Study of America's Polarized Landscape | More in Common
• State of Reform | Unite America Institute (June 2020)
• Why is Governing No Longer Good Politics: Reflections from a Thousand Years of Public Service | FixUS (February 2021) 

‍

Mixed Media

• Podcast: Gehl, Katherine and Michael E. Porter “America's Hidden Duopoly,” Freakonomics (October 2018) 
• Video: How America’s two-party doom loop is driving division | Unite America 
• Video: History is set to repeat | Unite America 

‍

Columns & Commentary 

• “Make the Senate Great Again,” Ben Sasse | Wall Street Journal (September 2020)
• “Vote Like Your Life Depends on It. Mine Does,” Lisa Rice | Real Clear Politics (June 2020) 
• “Jonahtan Haidt is Trying to Heal America's Division,” Paul Wehner | The Atlantic (May 2020) 
• “Can the Coronavirus Heal Polarization?” Rachel Kleinfeld and Ashley Quarcoo | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (May 2020) 
• “How Business Leaders can Champion Democracy,” Daniella Ballou-Aares and Vineeta Vijayaraghaven | Harvard Business Review (March 2020) 
• “American politics is broken, but here's why you shouldn't give up on the system just yet,” USA Today (February 2020) 
• Hawkings, Betsy Wright. “Political Reform is Good for Republicans and Our Country,” Jason Altmire and Carlos Luis Curbelo | Townhall (November 2019) 
• “The Democracy Doomsayers Consider 2020,” Nicholas Casey | New York Times (November 2019)
• “No silver bullets,” Nick Penniman | The Fulcrum (October 2019) 
•  “Why Do We Let Political Parties Act Like Monopolies?” David Dodson | New York Times (May 2019) 
• “A Way Out of Pendulum Politics,” Nick Troiano | Real Clear Politics (November 2018) 
• “The American Civil War, Part II,” Thomas Friedman | New York Times (October 2018) 
• “One Reform to Save America,” David Brooks | New York Times (May 2018) 

‍

Recommended Books 

• Drutman, Lee. Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America. Oxford University Press. 2020 
• Gehl, Katherine and Michael Porter. The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy. Harvard Business Review Press. 2020 
• Simon, Neal. Contract to Unite America: Ten Reforms to Reclaim Our Republic. Amplify Publishing. 2020  
• Klein, Ezra. Why We're Polarized. Avid Reader Press. 2020
• Mason, Liliana. Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity. University of Chicago Press. 2018
• Altmire, Jason. Dead Center: How Political Polarization Divided America and What We Can Do About It. Sunbury Press. 2017

‍

Partner Organizations 

• Institute for Political Innovation 
• More in Common 
• FixUS
• RepresentUS
• IssueOne
• Betterchoices.vote
• American Academy of Arts & Sciences 

‍