Guardrails for the Guardians: Charts, Graphs, and Figures

ERN’s 2020 report, Guardrails for the Guardians: Reducing Secretary of State Conflict of Interest, supports its conclusions and recommendations with data sourced by proprietary and outside resources. Below, figures from the report are available in full quality. Please cite ERN and the original source when using this data. 

More information and data in greater detail is available at: https://electionreformers.org/guardrails-resources/

Figure 1: State Election Administration Categories

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Figure 2. 2016 Election Performance by Category of State Election Leadership

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Figure 3. Composition of State Election Boards

PLEASE NOTE: An updated and more comprehensive version of this sheet can be found at this link.

Figure 4. The Secretary of State Position and a Professional Political Career

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Figure 5. Comparison of Partisan Behavior Between Secretaries of State Who Ran for Higher Office with Those Who Did Not

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Figure 6. Secretaries of State with Prior Election Experience, 2000-2020

Link to source: 1, 2, 3

Figure 7. Local Election Official Opinions on Whether Voting Has Gotten Easier

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Figure 8. Secretaries of State Who Were Also Candidates

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Figure 9. Comparison of Election Success Rates for Sitting Secretaries of State and Attorneys General

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Figure 10. Secretaries of State Serving in Campaign Leadership Positions for Presidential Candidates

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Figure 11. Frequency of Political Endorsements Made by Secretaries of State

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Figure 12. 2018 CCES Opinion Data: “Do you approve of the way [election officials] are doing their job?”

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Figure 13. 2018 CCES Opinion Data: Election Official Job Approval and Party Affiliation

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Figure 14. Perceptions of Fairness Nationally and in Georgia, 2018

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 Figure 15. 2010 CCES Opinion Data: “Who would win a disputed election in your state?”

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Figure 16. Worries about 2018 Election, by Party

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Figure 17. Actions by Secretaries of State to Facilitate Elections under COVID-19

Figure 18. Gallup Confidence in Elections Poll

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Figure 19. Highest Ranked Democracies Grouped by Election Management Category

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Figure 20. Composition and Selection of Independent Redistricting Entities

APPENDIX A:
PROPOSED STATE LEGISLATION TO REFORM STATE ELECTION LEADERSHIP OR ADDRESS CONFLICT OF INTEREST, 2001 TO 2020

The scenarios described in this report have generated enough concern that, over the past 20 years, 75 pieces of legislation have been introduced in 33 states aimed at reforming some element of top-level state election administration. State legislatures have proposed establishing nonpartisan election commissions, making the secretary of state a nonpartisan elected office, prohibiting secretary of state political activity, and requiring recusal in certain circumstances. The table below shows the bills grouped by category and presents examples of legislation. The full set of proposed legislation is available at: www.electionreformers.org/guardrails-resources/

APPENDIX B:
PARTY COMPOSITION OF EACH SECRETARY OF STATE POSITION, 2000 TO 2020

The chart below demonstrates the fluctuating partisan landscape of secretaries of state across the U.S. over the last twenty years. Because board states have bipartisan elements and typically see members serve staggered terms, they are excluded from this chart.

To view this data in greater detail, please visit: www.electionreformers.org/guardrails-resources/