Home Page

A person in a white shirt and unbuttoned grey cardigan uses a pen to point at a form in a polling place. They are standing in front of a table with a white table cloth, speaking with someone else who is seated just in front of the camera.

New Resource

Announcing:

We've just launched the Election Resource Hub, a new website connecting researchers, policymakers, and election officials directly with research, tools, and evidence-based policy and practice recommendations. Click to learn more and explore the Hub's guides and resources!

A handheld American flag is held in front of the camera. Slightly blurred in the background, we can see a man in a brown jacket with a white collar who is wearing a mask over his nose and mouth.

Evaluating U.S. Elections

Elections Performance Index

The Elections Performance Index is the premier assessment tool to evaluate election administration across the nation. It allows viewers to compare election administration policy and performance across states and from one election cycle to the next. The current index is based on the U.S. presidential and mid-term elections ranging from 2008–2024.

Evaluating Election Administration

Studying Voters' Experiences

Survey of the Performance of American Elections

The Survey of the Performance of American Elections is the only national survey of registered voters that is focused on understanding the voting process from the perspective of the voter. It was begun in 2008 and repeated in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2020, and 2024. Access the dataset and latest reports here.

Research + Data

A Texas Voter registration application lays on a table; we can see a brown hand with a pen as someone fills it out. A Texas driver's license is off to one side.

New Research

Practice-Oriented Research to Improve Voter Registration and List Maintenance

Seeking to improve understanding of how the voter registration system currently operates, encourage innovation in adopting new approaches to list maintenance, and equip policymakers, administrators, and the public with reliable information about the system.

Practice-Oriented Research

Subscribe to the MEDSL Newsletter

Have you subscribed to our newsletter yet? We send updates once a quarter; click through to subscribe and stay up-to-date on resources, new data, events, and interesting research from scholars and election officials.

By applying scientific principles to how elections are studied and administered, MEDSL aims to improve the democratic experience for all U.S. voters.

Learn more about us

Explore

Research Projects

Using data-driven scientific analysis, we strive to better understand how elections function in the U.S. Read more about our core research, and keep up to date with our newest projects.

Learn more about our research

Our Data

Our lab is a clearinghouse for data sets that can fuel studies on elections and how they're conducted. Here you'll find our portal for election data and research tools produced by us and others.

Peruse our data, tools, and resources