Home: VoteWell.net

Connect with Others in Your State Working for Better Election Procedures

CONTENTS

Actions to take

State groups

National groups with state activities

Voting methods

State rules

Local, state, national officials

Election results, 1789-present

Page uses Atkinson Hyperlegible font from Braille Institute

ACTIONS

Below is a list of state groups working for better elections, then a list of national groups. Working in groups is one of our oldest and strongest approaches, cited by de Tocqueville as a reason why the US avoided the extremism of the French Revolution.

Observe at the election office or its webcam, to see election processing. If you see mistakes, tell the supervisor. Tell your friends how well it goes. Click here to find what you can observe in your state. Click here to find how to get accredited, if your state needs that. The info says it’s for “poll-watchers,” and the same procedures usually apply to observing in election offices after the polls close.

Volunteer for a candidate, or run for office, from city council up: If you and other volunteers support a policy, your candidate will listen. Campaigns publicize issues, win or lose. Winning candidates gain a vote on budgets, policies and appointments. Filing deadlines are 4-12 months before the election, so start now. Many groups train candidates.

If you have time in the day, apply to work in the election office or at the polls, so you gain credibility and see the process from the inside. Election offices hire and train temporaries for each election. Or you can observe as a volunteer. If you have even more time, get a paid or unpaid government internship in any office to see how government works.

State procedures can be improved in every state (comparison). If you want better procedures, talk with friends and candidates. Write letters to the editor. Tell your state legislators. In some states, people can put initiatives on the ballot.

STATE GROUPS Please submit others to: admin@votewell.net (updated: 6/30/2024)

AK	Alaska Public Interest Research Group	IN	Common Cause IN	NV	All Voting is Local
AK	LWV-Alaska	IN	LWV-Indiana	NV	Election Integrity Project Nevada
AL	Coalition of Groups	IN	Indiana Vote by Mail	NV	LWV-Nevada
AL	LWV-Alabama	KS	LWV-Kansas	NY	Citizens For Voting Integrity New York
AR	Election Integrity Project Arkansas	KY	Common Cause KY	NY	Common Cause NY
AR	LWV-Arkansas	KY	LWV-Kentucky	NY	LWV-New-York
AZ	All Voting is Local	LA	Citizens for a New Louisiana	NY	Let NY Vote
AZ	Audit Elections USA	LA	Common Cause LA	NY	Smart Elections
AZ	Election Integrity Project Arizona	LA	LWV-Louisiana	OH	All Voting is Local
AZ	LWV-Arizona	MA	Common Cause MA	OH	Common Cause OH
AZ	Our Voice Our Vote	MA	LWV-Massachusetts	OH	LWV-Ohio
CA	CA Assoc.of Clerks & Election Officials	MD	Common Cause MD	OH	Ohio Organizing Collective
CA	CA Voter Foundation	MD	LWV-Maryland	OK	Common Cause OK
CA	Citizens' Oversight	MD	Maryland Voter Integrity Group	OK	LWV-Oklahoma
CA	Common Cause CA	MD	SAVE Our Votes	OR	Common Cause OR
CA	Election Integrity Caucus	ME	LWV-Maine	OR	LWV-Oregon
CA	Election Integrity Project California	ME	Maine Citizens for Clean Elections	PA	Citizens for Better Elections
CA	Fairvote CA	ME	Protect Maine Elections	PA	Committee of 70
CA	Future of CA Elections	MI	All Voting is Local	PA	Common Cause PA
CA	Future of California Elections	MI	Common Cause MI	PA	LWV-Pennsylvania
CA	LWV-California	MI	LWV-Michigan	PA	Protect Our Vote Philly
CA	Long Beach Reform Coalition	MI	Michigan Election Reform Alliance	PA	VoteAllegheny
CA	Protect California Ballots	MI	Ypsi, Can I Share?	PA	Votepa
CA	Voters' Choice CA	MN	Citizens for Election Integrity	RI	Common Cause RI
CO	Common Cause CO	MN	Clean Elections Minnesota	RI	LWV-Rhode-Island
CO	Election Quality Monitor Colorado	MN	Common Cause MN	SC	Common Cause SC
CO	LWV-Colorado	MN	LWV-Minnesota	SC	LWV-South-Carolina
CT	Common Cause CT	MO	LWV-Missouri	SD	LWV-South Dakota
CT	Connecticut Citizen Action Group	MO	Missouri Jobs With Justice Voter Action	TN	Common Cause TN
CT	Connecticut Citizen Election Audit	MS	Common Cause MS	TN	Conservative Women of Collierville
CT	LWV-Connecticut	MS	LWV-Mississippi	TN	LWV-Tennessee
DC	LWV-District-of Columbia	MT	Common Cause MT	TN	Organize Tennessee
DE	Common Cause DE	MT	LWV-Montana	TN	Shelby Advocates for Valid Elections
DE	LWV-Delaware	NC	Common Cause NC	TN	Tennessee Voters for Election Integrity
FL	Citizens' Audit Broward	NC	Democracy NC	TX	Clean Elections Texas
FL	Common Cause FL	NC	LWV-North-Carolina	TX	Common Cause TX
FL	Democracy Counts	NC	New North Carolina Project	TX	Democracy Counts
FL	Florida Fair Elections Coalition	NC	NC Black Leadership & Organizing Collective	TX	LWV-Texas (rate county websites)
FL	LWV-Florida	NC	NC Coalition for Verified Voting	UT	LWV-Utah
FL	Mi Vecino	NC	Transparent Elections North Carolina	VA	LWV-Virginia
GA	Black Voters Matter	NC	Voter Integrity Project, North Carolina	VA	Virginia Fair Elections
GA	Coalition for Good Governance	ND	LWV-North-Dakota	VT	LWV-Vermont
GA	Common Cause GA	ND	ND Voters First	WA	Fix Democracy First
GA	Fairfight	NE	Common Cause NE	WA	LWV-Washington
GA	LWV-Georgia	NE	LWV-Nebraska	WA	Political Destiny
GA	Voter GA	NH	LWV-New-Hampshire	WA	Washington Bus
HI	LWV-Hawaii	NH	Jaffrey Voices	WI	All Voting is Local
IA	LWV-Iowa	NH	Open Democracy	WI	Common Cause WI
ID	LWV-Idaho	NH	The People	WI	LWV-Wisconsin
IL	Clean Count Cook County	NJ	Citizens for NJ Election Integrity	WI	Wisconsin Election Integrity
IL	Common Cause IL	NJ	Coalition for Peace Action	WV	LWV-West-Virginia
IL	LWV-Illinois	NJ	Energizing Young Voters	WV	Our Future WV
IL	Illinois Election Integrity Program	NJ	LWV-New-Jersey	WV	WV Citizen Action Group
		NM	Common Cause NM	WV	WV Citizens for Clean Elections
		NM	LWV-New-Mexico	WY	LWV-Wyoming
		NM	United Voters of New Mexico

NATIONAL GROUPS

League of Women Voters info on candidates & voting, Endorses some issues, not candidates. 800 local branches. State websites are in list above.

Common Cause State activities vary, and their websites are in list above.

Election Integrity Network of the Conservative Partnership Institute, encourages conservatives to watch election offices carefully (thoughtful manual)

Other national conservative groups

Electionfraud20.org/ monitors pro-Trump audits by state

Represent Us ethics and campaign finance

Many national groups are in the Bridge Alliance

Sign up for Election Integrity email list

Scrutineers supports networking

Groups which Focus on Polling Places:

Fair Fight trains poll watchers

CountTheVote.info transcribes and publishes poll tapes and other information

Validate the Vote USA organizes people to photograph precinct results on election night (at precincts which scan votes and post poll tapes) in AZ, CO, FL, GA. ME, MI. MT, NC, OH, PA, SC TN, TX, WI.

Election Defenders train volunteers to de-escalate any confrontations outside polling places

NAACP Civic Engagement trains volunteers to observe and report any issues at polling places

VOTING METHODS

ElectionScience supports Approval Voting (vote for as many candidates as you wish)

FairVote supports Ranked Choice Voting (rank as many candidates as you wish)

Detailed information on Elections:

Types of voting machines used verifiedvoting.org/verifier

Proven vote-counting errors (mostly assumed to be accidental) 2002-2008 were compiled by the Brennan Center. A few updates.

Proven election fraud cases (mostly by officials or third parties, not voters) 1996-2022 were compiled by Heritage Foundation

STATE RULES

Election audits, map and table of state rules for election observers

Public access to get copies of ballots and ballot images, map and table of state rules

Who creates ballot images? Map and state rules. Send letter to press, candidates, officials

Reliability of voting by mail, map of state rules

Laws on posting results at precincts (poll tapes)

Many topics at National Conference of State Legislators (vendors can be sponsors)

Rules on copies of voter registration databases

Rules on observers, map and lists of state rules

LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL OFFICIALS

Lobbying 101, 102 In emails, letters, calls, say main topic first, so busy staff categorize the call right. Don't start with your moving story.

State Legislators and their past opponents

Free registration to find staff emails & fax for state and federal legislators. Faxing free or cheap is an alternative to email.

Congressional staff names, by district and topic. Congress's Schedule.

Local election officials usvotefoundation.org /vote/eoddomestic.htm Ask them to save ballot images

State election officials: https://www.usa.gov/election-office

Candidate lists everywhere from Ballotpedia.

List of threats against officials

Links to state election websites usa.gov/election-office or en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_official_election_results_by_state

International Association of Government Officials formed in 2016 by merger of National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks (NACRC) and International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers (IACREOT), supported by election vendors at "largest trade show in the industry"

National Association of State Election Directors (vendors can be affiliates)

Election Center-National Association of Election Officials (vendors can be corporate members)

National Association of Secretaries of State (vendors can be affiliates)

ELECTION RESULTS

State and local election tallies 1976-2018 electionlab.mit.edu/data

Links to websites with state election results and which years are available en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_official_election_results_by_state or usa.gov/election-office without years

Mayor, council, sheriff: total votes for each candidate, and campaign donations in AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, IN, KY, LA, MN, NC, RI, SC, VA, WA, mostly 1986-present, at 2.5¢ - 5¢ per record. Groups may analyze but not share records. leap.rice.edu

President, Congress, statewide candidates and state legislatures, totals by county, each state in a separate file 2020

President, Congress, governors, 1948-2020, including some primaries and county-level tallies

President, Congress, governors, 1789-2020, paywall, library.cqpress.com/elections

US mayoral election results 1945-2007 in 834 cities and state legislatures 1967-2010

Individuals getting election data for their areas

Hard to get precinct results & maps

Wish lists, to make standardized comparisons easier, by Stephanie Singer who prepared state files above.

Wish list for election agencies:

• Make results available in downloadable files. On any webpages reporting election results, give a link to the location of those downloadable files. Ideally these files should be available both in tabular form (tab-separated, Excel or — if you’re sure you have no commas in candidate, contest or reporting unit names! — in csv) and in the NIST common data format. (e.g., NV)
• For every pdf, post the underlying data file in Excel, csv, tab-separated or other easily-parsed format. This includes — especially! — the final results, which often are submitted with a wet signature. No need to have the signature in the easily-parsed format, but please please please don’t make us pull data from pdfs. (e.g., GU)
• Create archives of datafile snapshots of results over time. 
• Create consolidated files (e.g., state election agency consolidation of results from individual counties) automatically, not by hand. (e.g., NH)
• Avoid putting multiple blocks of data into a single spreadsheet. (e.g. NH)
• Don’t add text to numerical cells in spreadsheets (e.g., asterisks in CO)
• If you’re reporting election-day results by precinct and absentee results by county, create two separate tables. Don’t shoehorn the  absentee data into the precinct format (e.g., NC, AK)
• Report results by county if you have counties (AK)
• Indicate status of results (preliminary or official) in the file name

Wish list for voting system vendors:

• For every pdf report, have an option for a tab-separated (or other easily-parsed) report of the same data
• Provide one-click NIST-common-data-format (xml or json) export of elections results at the most granular level, both for the election administrators (in-house) and any public ENR interface
• On any site hosting several different jurisdictions’ results and/or results for several different elections, use URLs that can be calculated from the jurisdiction name and the election. 
• Make it easy for jurisdictions to create archive of snapshots of results over time

Wish list for the universe:

• Can someone please commit to hosting and funding a national archive of US election results?