A New Election Administration: Policy Learning and Nationalization of Elections

• In Event: The Relationship between the Legislature and Other Political Institutions

Abstract

Multiple decisions from the Roberts Court signaled an end to decades of expansive voting administration practices. Current work in election administration has focused on measuring direct policy effects, though we know less about how legislators approach the issue. This work explores changes in how lawmakers approach election administration policy as a function of Supreme Court decisions and the nationalization of state-level election policy. I approach this using network event history analysis, and model policy adoptions as a function of their success using turnout data from 2004-2022. I find evidence of partisan learning as a function of landmark Supreme Court rulings, reversing the pre-ruling trends. This work demonstrates a shift in how lawmakers approach election administration after a critical Court decision and contributes to the literature on the nationalization of state elections.

Author

• Isaac Pollert, Penn State University