Earlier this month, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) released the last in a five-part series of deep dives into the 2016 Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS). Having closed the door on 2016, we wanted to give our friends in the election community a sneak peek at what the EAC research and data team has planned for 2018.
First, we are busy laying the groundwork for implementing the 2018 EAVS, the eighth biennial survey of its kind. We’ve started reaching out to our points of contact in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and the territories this week, and we’ll be launching the EAVS web portal later this month.
The survey will be similar to years past, but there will be a few changes in 2018 that we plan to roll out over the summer and fall. Building on improvements from the 2016 survey, our hope is that these changes will continue to make the EAVS easier to complete, strengthen data quality and completeness, and foster greater use of the data by experts and election officials alike. The 2018 survey instrument is now available on our website.
Second, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of State, we are co-hosting an Election Data Summit in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 12. The summit will bring together state and local election officials and election data experts from across the country to share good practices and discuss how data is being used to improve our elections. We know that EAVS data barely scratches the surface of the wide world of election data out there, so we wanted to use this opportunity to lift up some emerging and innovative data-driven practices from around the country. From voter registration to post-election audits, the summit will explore data sources and tools that span the election cycle. Registration is now open, so come join us in Philadelphia.
Stay tuned. We’ll post more information on the 2018 EAVS and Election Data Summit here on the EAC blog in the weeks to come.