The following is an extract from our short explainer “Things You Might Not Know About Elections.” You can find the entire explainer here: https://cffad.org/things-you-might-not-know-about-elections/
The constitutions and laws of each state assign elections administration to various people and institutions. There is enormous variation across the U.S. in this regard.
Altogether, over 70% of the officials who conduct elections in the U.S. are elected to office. To learn more, click here and here.
By contrast, most other democracies around the world have a separate, nationally organized set of election workers.
Studies show that people tend to accept the legitimacy of elections more and engage in election violence less — when they live in countries where electoral administrations have independence from partisan pressures and strong administrative capacity.
It is important to note that although partisan officials may not conduct their duties objectively, being vulnerable to partisan influences is not the same as being vulnerable to corrupt influences, although the two are often conflated in popular discourse.
The main protection you have against partisan behavior by a Secretary of State or a local election official is your willingness to pay attention to these roles and vote for candidates who are competent, transparent, do not endorse candidates or issues on the ballot, are non-partisan in their approach to elections, and thus instill trust in the election process.
So, the two big takeaways are these: (1) state and local officials, many of them partisan, control much of the way our elections are run; and (2) much depends upon the citizen’s commitment to vote for trustworthy, non-partisan, and competent election administrators – and the willingness and ability of those election administrators and political leaders to ensure that elections are run in ways that are free, fair, transparent, and accurate. That is how they can encourage trust.
In the next several weeks, we will review some other important methods that have increased trust over the last 230 years of elections in the U.S. These include the universal right to vote, the secret ballot, and methods to protect election integrity.
If you want to learn more about elections, we have a 9-part course, each part is a 20-minute read. Easy! Click here: https://cffad.org/things-you-might-not-know-about-elections/
