Pew Releases New Elections Performance Index

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On April 8, 2014, The Pew Charitable Trusts released its latest Elections Performance Index, or EPI, which for the first time enables states to compare their election administration performance to one another and across similar elections. The index is used to create a data interactive that allows users to make their own comparisons across states or over time.

The index demonstrates that, on average, elections performance nationally improved from 2008 to 2012.

•  The overall scores of 21 states and the District of Columbia increased more than the national average. 
•  The average voting wait time was slightly shorter in 2012 than in 2008. 
•  The district had the largest increase in overall EPI score, 20 percentage points; but widespread improvement among the states meant the district remained a low performer. 
•  Georgia had the largest decrease in overall score, 7 points, since 2008. 
•  Seven states—Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin—were high performers in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

Over the coming weeks, dispatches will continue to highlight trends in election performance and explore specific indicators of election administration, as well as the stories from individual states.

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