Elections in the United States are run by thousands of local jurisdictions, each with its own polling place layouts, voting machines, staffing, and procedures. As a result, what we know about the voting process tends to come from isolated reports. Collecting systematic, comparable data is essential to the study of American elections and can help improve accessibility, reduce administrative burden, and strengthen public trust in elections.
VoteUX brings together a cross-institutional team of more than 40 researchers from universities across the country to collect data on the voter experience and polling place operations at voting sites nationwide. Learn more about the project, our leadership team, and how to get involved.
Curious about what we’ve found so far? Explore our Research & Reports.
VoteUX is a national research collaboration to study the design and experience of the voting process, facilitated by an interdisciplinary partnership between the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Elections Research Center and the University of Rhode Island’s Engineering for Democracy Institute. The project grew out of research convenings supported by The Election Trust Initiative.
VoteUX builds on a substantial body of polling place observation studies, including the foundational work of Charles Stewart III (MIT Election Data and Science Lab) and many other elections scholars. Most directly, the current project extends a large-scale, multi-university study conducted during the 2016 election (Stein et al. 2020; Mann et al. 2018) and involves many of the same researchers from that pioneering study. VoteUX gratefully acknowledges Charles Stewart, Michael Herron, Robert Stein, and Christopher Mann for their leadership on the 2016 study.
VoteUX is a large-scale national research collaboration of researchers from universities across the country, built on an interdisciplinary partnership between the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Elections Research Center and the University of Rhode Island’s Engineering for Democracy Institute. The project is co-led by Barry Burden and Gretchen Macht, whose expertise in election administration, engineering, and human-centered research shapes its interdisciplinary approach.
Barry Burden is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on election administration, voter participation, and political parties.
Gretchen Macht is Professor of Mechanical, Industrial, and Systems Engineering and Director of the Engineering for Democracy Institute at the University of Rhode Island. Her research focuses on voting systems, team performance, and human systems engineering.
VoteUX is made possible by the participation of researchers across the country, each observing polling places in and around their own communities. In many cases, data collection is carried out by faculty-student research teams. The 2026 study is currently in development, with 2028 planning already underway.
Researchers. Our current coverage skews toward areas near participating universities — we’re looking to expand, especially outside college towns. Interested in polling place observation in your area, whether on your own or with a student research team? Contact us to learn more!
Election Officials. We’re happy to share our findings with local election offices, and we welcome conversations with officials interested in participating in a future observation study. Contact us to learn more!
To reach the the VoteUX team, please send an email to elections@polisci.wisc.edu.
Data & Methods
Learn more about the VoteUX project data and methodology in the drop-down menus below.
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Data Collection
VoteUX observes voters as they participate in the voting process, collecting data on individual voters’ experience of voting as well as the polling place itself:
- Timing at various stages
- Waiting in line
- Checking in
- Receiving a ballot
- Marking a ballot
- Scanning a ballot
- Early departures from the line (balking and reneging)
- Voter registration at the polls
- Provisional ballot use
- Voters turned away
- Line lengths
- Physical layout of the polling place
- Polling place staffing
- Voting accessibility
- Voting equipment
Site Selection
Details to come.
Study Protocols
Details to come.
Data Coverage
VoteUX is a large-scale polling place observation study collecting data on the voter experience and polling place operations at voting sites across the United States. Coverage varies by election year — use the tabs below to explore data for each.
VoteUX extends the landmark 2016 collaborative polling place observation study (Stein et al. 2020), which included 28 counties across 19 states. Dot size below shows the number of voters observed in each county.
The 2026 VoteUX study is currently in development.
Research & Reports
Waiting to Vote in the 2016 Presidential Election
Stein et al. 2020 – This nationwide study examines polling place operations during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, including voter wait times, check-in procedures, and ballot completion.
Key Findings
- Polling place activity peaks in the morning, leading to the longest lines, wait times, and voting times.
- Strict photo voter ID requirements increase check-in times in majority nonwhite polling places but can reduce check-in times in majority-white polling places where driver’s licenses are scanned.
- Few voters leave the check-in line after joining it, even when they experience a wait.
Read the paper: DOI | PDF
Pedagogical Value of Polling Place Observation by Students
Mann et al. 2018 – This study evaluates the educational impact of a multi-university polling place observation project conducted during the 2016 election.
Key Findings
- Students gained knowledge of election science and research methods through hands-on election observation.
- The experience had lasting educational value and inspired continued interest in research.
- Participation fostered civic engagement and appreciation for the study and administration of democratic elections.
Read the paper: DOI | PDF
Meet the Research Team
In the section below, search and filters appear first, followed by a list of faculty and staff. When a search term is entered into the search input field or a filter is selected, the list of faculty/staff automatically updates to match the search term and/or selected filters.
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Faculty Staff List
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Laura Albert
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: University of Wisconsin-Madison
R. Michael Alvarez
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: California Institute of Technology
Joseph Anthony
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: State University of New York (SUNY)-Cortland
Nathaniel Birkhead
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: Kansas State University
Joshua Boston
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: Bowling Green State University
Lisa Bryant
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: California State University, Fresno
Barry Burden
Position title: Steering Committee
Pronouns: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Christopher Cooper
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: Western Carolina University
David Darmofal
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: University of Southern Carolina
Jess Esplin
Position title: Steering Committee
Pronouns: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Michael Gilbert
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: University of Virginia Law
MV (Trey) Hood III
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: University of Georgia
Nicole Kalaf-Hughes
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: Bowling Green State University
David Kimball
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: University of Missouri-St. Louis
Martha Kropf
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Gretchen Macht
Position title: Steering Committee
Pronouns: University of Rhode Island
Anita Manion
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: University of Missouri-St. Louis
Kenneth Mayer
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Matthew Miles
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: Brigham Young University-Idaho
Costas Panagopoulos
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: Northeastern University
Michael Ritter
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: Washington State University
Jason Roberts
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jennifer Victor
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: George Mason University
Ryan Williamson
Position title: Researcher
Pronouns: University of Wyoming